Is there anything more reassuring during a long day's work than knowing that waiting for you in the crockpot is a batch of slow-cooking, garlicky carnitas just meltingly tender and ready to take a ride in a couple of corn tortillas? These kinds of Taco Tuesday recipes can turn a day around.
That is the power of Taco Tuesday. Now, at first glance, you might not put the DTX-1 Detoxifier high on the tools you need to execute a stellar taco night in your home. That could be because you haven't thought out how to use it.
It might also be because you need to be made aware that Taco Tuesday recipes contain some of the most hard-to-wash ingredients!
Table of Contents
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01
Where Did Taco Tuesday Come From?
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02
Toppings for Taco Tuesday Recipes
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03
Filthy Ingredients? Perfect for Taco Night Detoxifier
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04
Detox your Tools for Taco Night
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05
Prepping Easy Taco Tuesday Recipes with the Detoxifier
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06
Detox Mojitos and Margaritas
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07
Conclusion
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08
Frequently Asked Questions
Where Did Taco Tuesday Come From?
You will not believe how old the phrase "Taco Tuesday" is! Taco deals have existed since as far back as the 1930s! The White Star cafeteria at St. Regis ran an incredible value in 1933. This advertisement listed 3 Mexican-style tacos for just 15 cents!
That said, the combination of the words Taco and Tuesday did not appear in print till 40 years later. The Progress Bulletin in California, 1976, advertised a restaurant called The Baker's Drive-Through that focused on their Taco Tuesday deal.
"Ever heard of Taco Tuesday®? We started it! We even trademarked it. That's how seriously we take tacos."
The above quote comes from the first restaurant ever to apply for a national trademark. The restaurant is known as Taco Joes, and they still own the trademark on the phrase Taco Tuesday. They have sent cease and desist letters to smaller restaurants using the phrase.
It's a wild fact, but Taco Joes owned the actual phrase Taco Tuesday until Lebron James applied for a trademark in 2019. He was worried about being sued for using the famous phrase, and this led to a fascinating ruling.
The phrase is too commonplace and widely used for a person to trademark it.
I guess Taco Joe's can save the postage on future cease and desist letters. It's good to see something as delicious as Taco Tuesday can escape the clutches of greed!
Toppings for Taco Tuesday Recipes
Most Americans were raised on Taco Bell-style toppings as standard fare on a soft flour or crunchy corn tortilla. At some point along the way, we got introduced to the more traditional street taco that is always served on two soft corn tortillas and topped with cilantro and onion.
Then along came the swanky chef and the food cart. This took taco night ideas into a different dimension!
Now you can stroll up to a taco truck and walk away with a wagyu beef taco topped with chervil, fried shallots, and black truffle mayo. It will blow your mind, but it doesn't speak to the types of toppings you will likely use on your next taco night at home.
Traditional Taco Toppings
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Onions
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Cilantro
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Sour Cream
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Shredded Cheese
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Pico De Gallo
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Guacamole
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Salsa
Traditional Fillings
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Ground Beef
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Grilled Chicken
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Beef Tongue
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Carnitas
Most of these ingredients can be cleaned using the MIRA Safety DTX-1 Detoxifier. It works off of a simple process.
The DTX-1 features durable, low-profile construction with a top-mounted touchscreen. Once you immerse the unit's fins in a container of water, you activate it by selecting options on the touchscreen.
Then, the Detoxifier takes care of the rest—pulsing the container with ultrasonic waves and rapidly releasing active oxygen molecules to cleanse your produce from the inside out. The DTX-1 features multiple modes to specifically target various threats, from antiparasitic to thermal treatments and more.
The detoxification process is all-natural and completely self-contained, with no soap or cleaning solution required. The only other thing you'll need is electricity from a 120V AC wall outlet. Beyond the cost of electricity, the DTX-1 has zero operating and maintenance costs.
Since some biological threats can be transmitted through contact with surfaces, the DTX-1 offers effective protection from unknown threats and pesticides, carcinogens, and other common threats.
In other words, the MIRA Safety DTX-1 Food Detoxifier is the best thing to happen to your family's kitchen since the air fryer.
Filthy Ingredients? Perfect for Taco Night Detoxifier
Taking certain ingredients and washing them in a water bath rather than simply rinsing them off in a colander is essential. Most greens and all leafy herbs require this kind of treatment if you hope to get them remotely clean from even physical grit.
I am going to tell you a story that you will never forget. We served a watercress salad at a swanky downtown restaurant that I worked at in college. The saute chef was responsible for cleaning the watercress and prepping it for that salad.
She would float the watercress in a bowl of cold water to wash it and pull it out by hand to place it in a colander. About once every five times she did this, she would pull a massive wolf spider from the watercress bowl as she plucked the salad. These spiders are very common, but they can look very gnarly when they get big.
We would all gather around and marvel at the spider. We would all look at the chef as if she had just saved all our lives. Can you imagine a guest finding that in their salad?
Other people worked saute, too, and some needed to wash the watercress more thoroughly. Now, we never had a salad returned for a massive spider in it, but I always wondered if on days when she was off if one made it out into the dining room, and someone unknowingly just chomped it down with the rest of the ingredients in the salad.
This is why the first stage of the Detoxifier process is so important. Eating raw ingredients must be well-cleaned, especially if you haven't harvested them.
Cilantro
All fresh herbs are tough to clean. However, they add undeniable flavor to our food; we love them! Most notable are those fresh herbs that we enjoy eating raw. Things like basil and mint come to mind.
Cilantro is also a great example of this and a downright filthy herb. These herbs are very tough to remove superficial dirt, but cilantro also has a massive pesticide problem!
USDA recently tested cilantro for the first time. The herb made a big entrance with the highest percentage of unapproved pesticides recorded on any item in the guide since EWG began tracking data in 1995. Thirty-three chemicals were present in 44 percent of cilantro samples. A USDA report stated that a number of these chemicals were approved for use in parsley, and it appears that cilantro growers were confused.
"If you see those pesticide labels, what you can and can't use them for, they're really quite detailed," said Pobst. "It's a lot of small print. As many growers as there are doing it correctly, there are probably some not getting it right." But it's hard to believe that a cilantro grower could confuse the plant with parsley, she added. "And anyway, as a consumer, why is it OK to put it on parsley if it's not OK to put on cilantro?"
This is a massive concern for many people who enjoy the fresh herb but are trying to live a healthy life free of chemicals. Of course, the DTX-1 Detoxifier from MIRA Safety was designed to clean your fresh herbs of all pesticides.
Green Onions
These other ingredients are almost always served uncooked and can harbor bacteria and pesticides. These onions are sprinkled on tacos and minced in pico de gallo. Since green onion is a densely layered plant that grows up out of the soil, it is very common for the onions to have dirt and grit inside of them.
You can do a thorough job if they are split down in the middle and then cleaned.
Sprouts
Sprouts are an excellent topping for tacos but because of the small size, the density of packing, and the delicate nature of the sprout, they can be nearly impossible to clean effectively with traditional means.
Sprouts might be the best example of an ingredient that can only be considered clean when using the DTX-1. The process lends itself to thoroughly cleaning these small, densely packed spaces.
Detox your Tools for Taco Night
Taco night can be effortless, and that is why we love it. It's tasty, quick, and easy. The taco shell is one of the best vehicles for a meal that has ever been created. The communal plate spilling over with well-cooked meats wrapped in corn or flour tortillas can make up the entirety of the meal!
That said, some tools will make your Taco Tuesday even more successful.
Knives
If you have any knife skills, they serve you well when preparing Taco Tuesday. Knives are essential, and a medium-sized wood-handled cleaver is one of the best knives for chopping the meat into bite-sized morsels that fit nicely into a tortilla.
A good chef's knife is also excellent for dicing onions and tomatoes and a great tool for chopping cilantro.
Cutting Boards
All of that chopping has to happen on a nice thick cutting board. Cutting boards are notoriously hard to get clean, and this is because they are wood or plastic, and cutting boards are not designed to go into dishwashers.
After using a cutting board regularly, you will cut into the material, and these minor cuts are nearly impossible to clean effectively. Soaking is one of the best methods, and you can submerge plastic cutting boards in bleach to sanitize these minor cuts.
The MIRA Safety DTX-1 Detoxifier is one of the very best tools for cleaning cutting boards. There is no heat or harsh chemicals, and the ultrasonic waves send an army of oxidizing bubbles into even the smallest nooks and crannies. There is no better and more chemical-free way of doing this than the DTX-1.
Prepping Easy Taco Tuesday Recipes with the Detoxifier
Chorizo and Eggs
This is a classic that can be served pretty much for any meal. Taco Tuesday can start at breakfast or lunch when you fry up some chorizo and combine it will make creamy scrambled eggs.
INGREDIENTS
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1 package of corn tortillas
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Four links of chorizo
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Eight eggs
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1lb of queso fresco
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Fresh cilantro
DETOX
Begin your prep by using the DTX-1 Detoxifier to clean your cilantro. Use the raw foods cleaning mode for this and plenty of water. When the cilantro is washed, set it aside to dry on paper towels or a thin hand towel.
PREP
Warm up a pan on medium heat and add a few glugs of olive oil.
Split your chorizo down the middle and squeeze the filling into the pan. Cook the sausage until it is cooked all the way through.
Crack all of your eggs into a bowl and whip them to scramble.
Drain your saute pan, and then add the eggs to the pan. Please keep it on medium heat and stir constantly.
Once your eggs are a little creamy and thoroughly cooked, remove them from the heat and set aside.
ASSEMBLY
Assemble your tacos by laying two corn tortillas on top of one another and add a couple of spoonfuls of egg and chorizo. Finally, top the filling with a sprinkle of chorizo. Make as many of these tacos as your filling can muster and serve them up.
Incredible Al Pastor
These incredible pork loin tacos marinated in ground chilis make for some of the best eating on the planet. With the exploding price of beef, these pork tacos are not just delicious but a great way to save money!
INGREDIENTS
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5 pounds of boneless pork shoulder
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Three tablespoons achiote paste
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Two tablespoons Guajillo chili powder
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1 tablespoon garlic powder
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1 tablespoon dried oregano
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One tablespoon cumin
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1 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
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1 cup Pineapple Juice
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Pineapple
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Cilantro
DETOX
Slice your meat into 1/2-inch thick slices and then wash using the Detoxifier. You can serve this dish with diced pineapple and fresh chopped cilantro, which should be run through the raw foods setting using the Detoxifier. The rest of your ingredients are dry and will not benefit from using the Detoxifier.
PREP
Mix your spices, vinegar, juice, and paste in a large bowl, then begin coating the meat in it.
Marinate this on Monday!
Overlap the meat slices on an oven-safe dish and cook them in your oven at 325 degrees for around an hour. You are looking for the meat to be tender and the outside to caramelize and crisp up.
Remove the meat and slice it thin to fit easily into your tortillas.
ASSEMBLE
Stack two warm corn tortillas on a plate, and then add a layer of your pork. Top that with a tiny dice of pineapple and a sprinkle of cilantro. These incredible tacos are now ready to eat!
Spring Shrimp Tacos with Fava Beans
Tis the season for Springtime meal prep, right? We have taken some of the very best flavors of spring in this recipe and added sweet shrimp to create one of the unique spring Taco Tuesday recipes. You will skewer these shrimp on bamboo and grill them to add that great charred flavor.
INGREDIENTS
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Shrimp
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1/2 cup of shelled peas
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1/2 cup of shelled favas
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Baby Arugula
Mint and Lime Vinaigrette
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5 large mint leaves
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1/4 cup lime juice
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One tablespoon of agave syrup
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1/4 cup avocado oil
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pinch of salt
DETOX
Start with a large bowl of fresh water and set your Detoxifier in the water. Add your shelled peas, favas, baby arugula, and mint to the water before turning the unit on. These fresh ingredients will benefit from a quick run with the Detoxifier.
Next, you are going to use the Detoxifier to clean your shrimp. Store-bought shrimp can always use a good wash. Even if they are Gulf shrimp caught right here in the US, they can use a good run through the Detoxifier.
You can use the same bowl with a change of water. Just make sure that you clean your product first and your shrimp after to avoid
PREP
Skewer about five shrimp on a bamboo skewer and continue this process until all of your shrimp are on skewers.
Grill these shrimp for about 3 minutes on each side.
While the shrimp are grilling, bring a pot of water to a rolling boil and add your shelled peas and fava beans. After about 20 seconds, drain them into a colander and rinse them with cold water until they are cool.
The mint lime vinaigrette is too easy! Just throw everything into a blender and buzz on high for a few minutes.
ASSEMBLY
Mix your peas, favas, and arugula in a large bowl and toss that with a little of your vinaigrette. Stack 2 warm corn tortillas and place 3-5 shrimp in the center. Top the shrimp with your dressed salad, and you are ready to eat!
Detox Mojitos and Margaritas
Half the fun of serving drinks like mojitos and margaritas is the glassware. You can take those high balls and those coupettes to a sink full of clean water and use the Detoxifier to ensure your serving glasses are as clean as possible before your drinks fill them.
You should throw your muddler and shaker into the water bath. You will need a muddler and shaker for our recipe.
Mojitos depend on fresh mint and a hard-to-find herb called culantro. These two herbs are served fresh in the mojito and should be cleaned using the Detoxifier. Nothing cleans fresh herbs like the MIRA Safety DTX-1 Detoxifier.
The rest comes down to the best recipes to create your drinks.
The Best Mojito Recipe
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3 mint leaves
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One large cilantro leaf
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1/2 ounce simple syrup
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2 ounces white rum
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3/4 ounce lime juice, freshly squeezed
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Club soda, to top
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Muddle your herbs with the simple syrup in a shaker
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Add the lime juice, ice, and rum
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Shake vigorously
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Pour into a glass and top with club soda
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Garnish with lime and a long cilantro leaf
Incredible Margaritas
What is taco night without a delicious margarita? This simply epic cocktail of white tequila, triple sec, and freshly squeezed lime juice is the very best way to wash down taco night successes.
Makes 2 Margaritas
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4oz of white tequila
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3oz of triple sec
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2oz of fresh squeezed lime juice
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Two ice cubes
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Rim your glasses by moistening a paper towel and running it along the rim of the glass. Pour some coarse sea salt onto a small plate. Dip the moist edge of the glass into the sea salt. Set your glasses aside and begin making the drink.
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Add your margarita ingredients into a shaker and shake vigorously for about 20 seconds.
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Fill your rimmed glasses with ice and fill each glass with the strained mixture from the shaker.
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If you want to sweeten the recipe up a bit, you can use agave nectar in the mix.
Conclusion
I hope you attempt these delicious Taco Tuesday recipes. In all honesty, if you start with fresh, clean ingredients, it is virtually impossible to go wrong! The beauty of making tacos is that they are easy and tasty.
Using the DTX-1 allows you to clean things like cilantro and green onions effectively, along with all of your meats, to ensure your food is clean and safe. The Detoxifier also plays an incredible role in cleaning any meal's serving platters and utensils.
Integrate the MIRA Safety DTX-1 Detoxifier into your entire food prep process, as it is a very effective tool for prep, cleanup, and especially hard-to-clean foods.
Most notably, on a Taco Tuesday, make sure your family heads to the sink to detoxify their hands with some soap and water before digging into your plate of handmade heaven and spreading germs all over your hard work!
