Dietitian Spotlight: Green Chile Turkey Tacos

In Texas and New Mexico, August means Hatch Green Chile season. You can’t turn on the TV or walk through our stores without noticing something new made with Hatch Green Chiles. From Hatch cornbread and stew to Hatch mac n' cheese and meatloaf, you’re likely to leave our stores smelling like a roasted Hatch chile.

August also means going back to school so what better way to celebrate all things Hatch and at the same time make school lunches a little more exciting, than with a Green Chile Turkey Taco for lunch? When you are picking up supplies to build a better lunchbox for yourself or your kiddos, be sure to buy a case of Hatch Green Chiles (which our stores will roast for free) to whip up this quick and easy lunch recipe.

If you are making this for the whole family, you may want to use the mild green chiles for the kids (unless they enjoy the heat). Now this might be heresy to the Hatch Chile purists but, if you don’t have the time to clean the green chiles, you can just pick up a can of chopped green chiles (we won’t tell anyone).

This recipe is extremely versatile. The ground turkey and veggie mixture can be used in a soft or crunchy taco shell, rolled into a burrito or made into ground turkey taco salad. In fact, double the mix and make ground turkey taco salad for dinner and then fill tortillas with the remaining mixture for a quick and simple lunch the next day.

Green Chile Turkey Tacos

Ingredients

1 lb ground turkey

1 small white onion (or 1/2 of a large), finely chopped

1 package (1 oz) taco seasoning

1-2 fresh hatch green chilies chopped or 1 can (4.5 oz) chopped green chiles

1 can (2.25 oz) chopped black olives

corn taco shells or corn tortillas

shredded cheese, chopped tomato, avocado

Instructions

1) In a large skillet pan cook the ground turkey and white onion over medium high heat until turkey is no longer pink and cooked through. Drain if needed.

2) Add the taco seasoning, green chiles, and black olives into the meat and stir together. Let cook for a few minutes so everything can combine together.

3) Serve with flour tortillas or corn taco shells and the taco toppings that you prefer.