Taqueria Night!! Carne Asada with Mexican rice and a Jarritos!

So I thought when I started this blog that I'd be cooking French food mainly... I guess not. Considering Knoxville doesn't have a single taqueria (before you get mad at me, I don't have a car so if there is some hidden gem LET ME KNOW), I find that I have to put making delicious mexican food in my own hands. A taqueria translates to a taco shop in English. It's basically a restaurant where you're in and out in 25 minutes and the menu consists of a long list of meats and then you choose your eating vessel. There are tacos, sopes, tostadas, flautas, plenty of different breads and fried breads to choose from. I decided to tackle two of my favorite things in one swoop: carne asada and mexican rice. Both are actually incredibly easy and make for a pretty good dinner when you're longing for some true mexican food. By the way, there is a restaurant in Knoxville called Soccer Taco that serves americanized Mexican food along with authentic Mexican food, and while it's alright, it just isn't a taqueria for two reasons: it's filled with only white people, it serves an americanized Mexican menu and throws the authentic stuff to the back of the menu!

Carne Asada

• One pound skirt steak
• a lime
• handful of cilantro
• salt & pepper

This is basically all you need for the marination. The true flavor from carne asada from a taqueria comes from the meat, not fancy marinades. Combine all of these ingredients together and let marinade for about an hour. When it's done marinading, put under your broiler and cook for a couple of minutes on each side or until it's done. Your cooking time will vary based on your own broiler/composition of your meat.

Mexican Rice

• One and a half cups rice
• Two cups tomato sauce, one cup chicken stock (these are interchangable based on your ingredients in your fridge. I used two cups chicken stock and one tomato sauce)
• Vegetables - cut up whatever you like, they put potatoes and carrots in the one at Guadalupana. I added half of a red bell pepper and half of a yellow.
• Add some cumin if you have it
• two tablespoons of vegetable oil

Fry the rice in the vegetable oil until all of them are slightly cooked and each grain is covered in oil. Then add all the wet ingredients, bring to a slight boil, and then turn very low. It's just cooking rice on a stove, there aren't any fancy methods for mexican rice.

There you go, this is honestly one of the easiest meals to make. It's not that fast because you have to marinade and make rice, but it's worth it.