Southwest Roasted Chicken Tacos

These were ridiculous.  Before we went to the George Strait concert on Saturday night we wanted an easy dinner at home.  This was just the answer.  With how well the chicken last week turned out, Chuck went with a similar approach.

Good ingredients were key with this one.  The tortillas we used were locally made and really fresh.  The spices in the rub were numerous but really made it great.

Southwest Roasted Chicken Tacos

Ingredients

     1           Whole chicken

Spice rub:
     2 T               Kosher salt
     1 T               Ground black pepper
     1 T               New Mexico Chili Powder (we find this in the Mexican aisle at Winco)
     1 T               Ancho Chili Powder
     1 t                 Cayenne Pepper
     1 t                 Smoked Paprika
     1 t                 Garlic powder
     2 pinches    Oregano
                           Olive oil 

     1       Red Bell Pepper
     1       Orange Bell Pepper
     1       Green Bell Pepper
     1       Yellow onion

     12      Taco size flour tortillas
               Tomatoes, diced
               Shredded lettuce
               Shredded cheese
               Sour cream
               A variety of hot sauces and salsas

Directions:

     1:     Mix together the dry ingredients for the rub in a small bowl. 

        
     2:     Clean and rinse out chicken.
     3:     Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
     4:     Drizzle olive oil in a baking dish that will fit the chicken.
     5:     Drizzle cavity with olive oil and rub in all over the inside of the bird.  Sprinkle the 
                       inside of the chicken with the dry rub, trying to get some on all surfaces.  
                       Drizzle olive oil over the outside of the chicken as well, rub to coat, and then 
                       sprinkle the rub on all surfaces.  Make sure to get in all of the nooks and 
                       crannies (armpits).  We had about 1/3 of the rub left, and saved it for another   
                       time!

     6:     Very coarsely chop the bell peppers and onion.  Stuff a little bit of each into the 
                       cavity of the chicken, until it's full.  Use the peppers and onion that didn't fit in 
                       the chicken as a bed in the baking dish for the chicken (this works instead of 
                       using a pan with a rack).  Tie the legs of the chicken together and place it in the 
                       oven.

 

     7:     Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes to brown up the skin, then reduce heat to 350 
                        and bake for about 90 minutes or until the thigh temperature reaches 165 
                        degrees and juices run clear.

     8:     Remove the chicken from the oven and then the baking dish and tent it with tin foil.  
                        Allow to rest for a bit before carving up for tacos.

 

    The peppers and onions were removed from the cavity and used in the tacos as well!

We saved the pan juices to make something later but they weren't used for anything this night. They just looked too good to throw away!

     9:     Heat up your tortillas (we warm them in the microwave between sheets of damp 
                        paper towels)
    10:    Let people dish them up!

And because we saw George Strait that night: