Venison and Pinto Bean Tacos

Happy Cinco de Mayo!  Today is also the fourth anniversary of when Jeremy and I got engaged.  To celebrate, I decided to make tacos tonight (I figured it had to be something Mexican... and I have enough work to do that it needed to be quick).  I had some ground venison in the freezer so I thawed that.  I cooked up some pinto beans to stretch the meat a bit too.

This was a really simple dish and was incredibly tasty.  We topped the tacos with salsa, taco sauce, tomatoes, and lettuce.  Jeremy used flour tortillas and I had hard-shell corn tortillas.

I make variations on this all the time - with chicken, different kinds of beans, corn, etc.  No matter what I use they're easy to make and give us leftovers for a couple of days.  Sometimes we even make taco salad out of it - just throwing more lettuce in and crumbling up taco shells.

Recipe:
1 lb. ground venison (lean ground beef works too)
3 c. pinto beans (cooked - or 2 cans drained and rinsed)
1 medium onion, minced
2 jalapeños, minced (you can remove the seeds and ribs if you want)
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbs. chili powder
2 tbs. ground cumin
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tbs. dried parsley flakes
1/2 c. chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat a large frying pan over medium heat.  Add 2 tbs. olive oil.
2. Add onion and jalapeños.  Saute for 4-5 minutes until softened.
3. Add ground meat.  Break up with a wooden spoon.  Add garlic and mix.  Cook until meat is browned.
4. Add remaining ingredients. Mix well. Continue to cook until the liquid evaporates.  Adjust seasonings as needed to taste.
5. Serve in shells with choice of toppings.