To me, summer in the South means lots of grilling. {That’s barbecuing for y’all Kiwis.} The last thing you want to do on a day that’s 99° and 100% humidity is to fire up the oven, so we take the heat outdoors where it can feel at home. I think the hardest part of cooking this summer has been our lack of a grill. Our kitchen is teeny tiny and heats up fast when you turn the oven on. Aye yi yi. Add that to the lack of air conditioning and its just downright unpleasant. Makes me want my church fan.

My solution to this problem {besides opening every single window to try and encourage a cross breeze to cool this Küche down} has been to focus on cooking stuff that requires very little time on the heat. This is only really a challenge for meat, but these tacos super fast! 4-5 minutes tops.

I suppose {if you want to get technical} I can’t really call these carne asada as that literally means grilled meat and we aren’t grilling it. I’m ignoring this fact and doing it anyway. One of these days I will make these on the grill and they will be perfection.

Carne Asada Tacos with Homemade Guacamole

The Marinade
½ of a lemon
½ of a lime
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
½ tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 of a green chili pepper {or jalapeño}, diced
¼ of a red onion, diced
1 small clove of garlic, minced
2 flank steaks

The Taco
6 small flour tortillas {soft taco size}
6 red cabbage leaves, washed and dried
1/2 cup of grated cheese {monterrey jack, gouda, or cheddar could all be delicious}
as much salsa as you’d like
a batch of fresh, chunky guacamole {see recipe below}

Mix all of the ingredients for the marinade together in a tupperware container {or a medium sized bowl} and then add the steaks. Pop it in the fridge and let it marinate for an hour or two.

When you’re ready to make the tacos, start heating a pan on medium high heat. While that is getting hot, go ahead and prep everything else. Get out your tortillas, wash and dry your cabbage, grate the cheese, and knock out a fabulous batch of homemade guac.

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Homemade Guacamole

1 avocado, diced
1 tomato, diced
1/2 of a red onion, diced
1/2 of a green chili pepper {or jalapeño}, diced
zest from 1/2 of a lime
juice from 1/2 of a lime
splash of tequila {completely optional}
salt and pepper to taste

For chunky guacamole, just add all of the ingredients to a bowl and give it a stir. For traditional guacamole, put it all in a food processor and process until its your desired consistency. {I am more of a chunky guac girl.}

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Anyway. Once the pan is hot, drop your steaks in and pour the marinade over the top of them. Cook for 2 minutes undisturbed and then flip. Do the same on the other side. Remove the steaks from the heat and slice them into strips. {They should be medium rare, but if you like your animal well dead to shoe leather, cook for about a minute longer.}

Now you can get to assembling your tacos. Start with the tortilla {obvs}, then the red cabbage, and finally a few strips of steak. Top with cheese, guacamole, and salsa and dig in!

It’s especially great with this warm corn, zucchini, and black bean salad from The Little Red House. {Aren’t her pictures phenomenal?!} I wouldn’t say no to some strawberry margarita cupcakes for dessert either.