Looking for a new way to serve delicious tacos? Go open-faced! I first saw these delicious street-style tacos while visiting a friend in LA.There are several advantages to making your tacos open faced. Here are 3 of them:
- They look bigger when they are open-faced instead of folded.
- You can use soft corn tortillas instead of fried ones.
- They look gorgeous when they are topped with fresh herbs and a drizzle of plain, non-fat yogurt.
Check out this chicken taco, complete with grilled chicken and veggies, herbs, and plain yogurt. One taco is just 143 calories!
You can vary the protein and veggies. This is a great way to use up leftovers. To make them vegetarian, used cooked pinto or black beans instead of the chicken. For a really fun way to serve them, offer a variety of ingredients, complete with warm corn tortillas, and allow everyone to make their own.Corn tortillas have more flavor and less salt than flour tortillas and they come in smaller sizes. Check out this chart (source: USDA, manufacturer's data):
| Tortilla Type and Size |
Calories, each |
Sodium (mg) |
| 6-inch corn tortilla |
58 |
3 |
| 6-inch flour tortilla |
90 |
206 |
| 10-inch flour tortilla |
217 |
500 |
Topping ideas:Protein - lean chicken, fish, shrimp, cooked beans, lean beefVeggies - grilled onions, peppers, corn kernels, fresh tomatoes, steamed broccoliSauces - salsa, nonfat yogurt, lime juiceGarnishes - fresh herbs or hot sauce
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Judy Doherty, MPS, PCII
Judy Doherty, MPS, PCII discovered her love of cooking at her grandmother's side, stirring raisin oatmeal on a Saturday morning. By 15 she had her first food service job. At 18 she was accepted to the Culinary Institute of America, where she graduated second in her class, then went on to the Fachschule Richemont in Switzerland to study pastry arts and baking. A decade with Hyatt Hotels followed before she founded Food and Health Communications with a single conviction: food that is good for you should taste extraordinary.
Judy holds a Master of Professional Studies in Food Business from the Culinary Institute of America, a Bachelor of Science in Culinary Arts from Johnson and Wales University (Summa Cum Laude), two art certificates from UC Berkeley Extension, and the CIA's Pro Chef II certification. She has earned the American Culinary Federation Bronze Medal, Gold Medal, and ACF Chef of the Year award.
Today she develops every recipe on this site, shoots and styles food through her food photography and motion studio, and publishes nutrition education materials for dietitians, schools, extension offices, and health professionals through nutritioneducationstore.com. She uses the latest nutritional science and Dietary Guidelines to drive her creativity — whether that means a new twist on fajitas or Italian brownies made with toasted nuts and cooked honey. Her mission has never changed: help everyone make food that tastes as good as it is for them.
