Chicken Tacos with Paprika Sour Cream

Last month John found a recipe for Chicken Tacos in the Sunday newspaper and handed it to me, asking if I'd try it for him. In the last month, we've had them six times. That's probably overdoing it, but I've made them three times, plus we've had leftovers each time, so I'll count it as six meals. Each time it was a treat. I decided tonight to put it down on my blog for all my friends.

I was thinking about my sister Ellen when I made it tonight, since there's cumin in the recipe and she's allergic to that. I've added cilantro to the original recipe, though, and I don't think she'll miss the cumin if she uses the cilantro. It adds such a wonderful flavor. I have made some changes to the original recipe, so I'm putting it down as I make it, not as the original calls for, so I hope any of you who try it will enjoy it as much as John and I do.

Smoked Paprika Sour Cream Sauce
1-2 limes (1/4 Cup lime juice)
1 cup Sour Cream
1 tsp. Smoked Paprika (regular is fine, if that's what you have)
1/2 tsp. Salt

Tacos
1 Medium onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups Grape or Cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
1/2 cup Cilantro, chopped coarsely
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
2 tsp. Chili Powder
2 tsp. Dried Oregano
1 tsp. Ground Cumin
1 tsp. Garlic Powder
1 to 1 1/2 Pounds Ground Chicken
1/2 cup Water
± 8 Soft white corn tortillas, lightly grilled, or cooked however you like your tacos.

Paprika Sour Cream Sauce:
Squeeze juice from limes into a medium bowl and add the sour cream, paprika and salt, stirring until mixed. Refrigerate until ready for use.

For the Tacos:
Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook, stirring frequently, until lightly browned.
Add chili powder, oregano, cumin and garlic powder, mixing to coat the onion evenly.

Add the ground chicken, breaking it up into small pieces at it goes into skillet. Stir to combine, then add the water, tomatoes and cilantro breaking up the chicken further with a wooden spoon as it cooks.

Reduce heat to medium. Cover and cook for 2-3 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Use the spoon to break any large clumps that might remain. Taste and season with salt as needed.

Remove from heat and cover to keep warm.

Cook tortillas as you prefer. I like to lightly grill in a sauté pan with a combination of butter and grapeseed oil (to prevent butter from burning) then blot well on paper towels. We like them to be not quite crisp, still flexible.

Put about 1/2 Cup of the Filling Mixture, plus about 2 Tbsp of the Sour Cream Sauce on each taco shell. Makes about 8-12 tacos.