If you’ve been around here for a while, then you know that summer food is all about the simple seasonal veggie side dishes. Those are my jam, but summer is also for Tacos! For real! When I think tacos- I think of summer in Vermont with my family around me. Read on to find out why that’s not as random as you think and why these 20 minute ground chicken tacos with poblanos are just what your summer table needs!

My mom’s side of the family is from Texas. And they all come up here to spend time on Lake Champlain in the summer. When they’re up here- my uncles and cousins, we love to get together for taco parties.

This is something we’ve been doing since I can remember. My Grandma Ginger started it. She would cook for days in preparation, which always somehow coincided with the hottest possible stretches of weather. She loved to complain that it was too hot, and too much work to do the tacos, but she secretly loved to put on these parties. And trust me, we loved her tacos!

She would cook the beef in an uber retro avocado green electric skillet on four feet. It would sit right on the counter, the meat simmering in all its savory spicy glory!

She would also bring really good corn tortillas to Vermont in her suitcase from Texas, and spends hours over hot oil, frying them, one by one, and bending them into shape with red handled tongs. Then with one hand setting it to the side to cool as she was using the other hand to grab another tortilla to take the plunge.

Can we all now take a moment to imagine how amazing her cottage would smell during this cooking spree. Ahhhhh!

The food was always out of this world: giant boatloads of fresh guacamole with lots of lime and salt- not too much else and tortilla chips. Next would come the assembly line for building your own tacos.

Then a conversation about the cheese needing to go into the shell before the meat so the hot meat would melt the cheese. This is the way it is done. Do not question. Ask me how I know.

Along with Gramma’s amazing tacos, we’d also have yellow squash and cheese casserole with canned green chilis. And a favorite in our family- chili relleno bake made with more cheese. We ate ourselves silly.

We still continue the tradition now, though not as fervently as we did when she was still alive.

These ground chicken tacos with poblanos are so silly easy, they are a far cry from the slaving over the stove all day tacos Grandma made. These are ready in 20 minutes flat. There is not a single shred of cheese (you won’t miss it since there is soo much gosh darned flavor going on- seriously!) And the tortillas- not fried. Just fresh and soft.

The texture of the chicken is so tender. Turkey works too, but if you can find ground chicken I think its even better because it is more tender. I recommend Coleman Organic.

I also used diced poblano peppers to bulk up the serving size, but they add very little in the way of additional calories. Bonus- they are high in Vitamin C!

So yeah, these are not the gut busting tacos of my youth, but they are so delicious, and easy and summer wouldn’t be right without tacos!

QUESTIONS

Do you have a family tradition of a specific meal like a taco party?
Do you put cheese into the shell before the meat to melt it?
Do you ever travel with food in your suitcase?