Taco Rice

This week, Abigail posted a copy of her mother's Mexican Meatloaf recipe. Abigail made it into burgers instead. I did too! Ohhhhh, so good! That recipe will be our winter version of this summer favorite.

One day my FIL and I were shopping at an imported food shop. He saw a package for Taco Rice from Okinawa. I looked at the picture and said, "We don't need that! I can make it myself!" And so I have - or my version of it anyway. Feel free to make up your version too!

Note: As "taco" means octopus in Japanese, I would like to clear up all misunderstandings before they start. This dish contains NO octopus! SMILE!

Taco Rice (Takosu Raisu)

Take big individual serving bowls. Ramen bowls or big pasta bowls are nice.

Crush a bag or two of tortilla chips - choose the flavor you like. Put a nice handful of tortilla chips in the bottom of each bowl.

Spoon a portion of hot white rice over the chips.

Next, top with taco seasoned ground meat. We use chicken. If we don't have seasoning, we just salt and pepper it. Still yummy.

Next comes grated cheese - if you have it.

Then lettuce and tomatoes. I love shiso in this dish. Ryu hates it.

Top with yogurt or a dressing of your choice. Our household loves Caesar Dressing on this.

Some people dig in with a fork and eat down through the layers. Others mix it all up and eat it. Japanese friends are shocked that one would pair lettuce and chips with hot rice, but they always love it.

I'm sure you could probably add refried beans or ???? to make it your very own dish. How about an avocado?? MMMM. Yum!