Navajo Tacos

once upon a time, i had a friend. and that friend was a navajo. and she made me a taco. the end. okay. only 3/4 of that is true. i do have a navajo friend, but she's never made me a taco. however, we did work at a mexican restaurant together and ate regular tacos in the back room while our customers waited for their chips (and once we got caught and yelled at. and they weren't really tacos. we really just ate chips and salsa and sometimes a tostada or two. but we did get caught and yelled at once. so let's pretend it's all truth, mmkay?) 

the real story of my first time with a navajo taco was in the 3rd grade. for one reason or another (i'm sure we were having some kind of navajo unit/lesson), our teacher made us navajo tacos. before the party, i told kim about it. she told me that she didn't like navajo tacos and that they were gross. i idolized her enough to listen and did not have one. stupid, stupid girl! if i'd only known what i was missing out on!


well, since 3rd grade, both of our tastebuds have matured, and we've come up with our own version of the navajo taco. we're not trying to claim we invented it, buuuut maybe we did. who knows. if you don't like it, we had nothing to do with it! if you do like it, we'll take the credit :)


i saw my friend's facebook status the other day and it said something about how she's never learned to make a navajo taco. if i'm being honest, up until that point, i didn't know people actually "made" these babies. i mean, we make them, but i don't consider it a recipe or anything. maybe ours aren't really legit. maybe ours taste nothing like a real navajo taco. maybe ours don't even resemble a navajo taco! maybe they're totally phony and have nothing to do with real navajos or even tacos for that matter. but no matter what they aren't, one thing they are is good. very, very good!

what you'll need:

vegetable oil--enough to cover the bottom of your frying pan

4 rhodes rolls (or however many you're feeding)--thawed

1 can chili (just use your favorite brand)

optional toppings:

cheese

lettuce

tomato

avocado

salsa

sour cream

olives

or anything else you want :)

flatten/stretch your rolls into a scone, and fry in oil until golden brown. heat chili and pour onto scone. layer toppings as desired.

and ps, don't forget to email us your favorite cilantro recipe to be featured this friday!
howetocook@gmail.com