Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Carne Asada Lettuce Cups -- A Fabulous Way to Use Leftover Roast Beef

This evening I made the most delicious Carne Asada Lettuce Cups. I chopped the leftover Slow Cooker Spice Rubbed Tri-Tip Roast from last night's dinner which provided about 2 cups of chopped beef. I also had 1 cup of au jus left from the roast that I reduced by half in a saucepan over medium-high heat until there was about 1/2 cup remaining which concentrated the flavors of the spices and beef juices. I added a couple generous dashes each of smoked paprika, roasted cumin and ground ancho chile pepper and then added in the 2 cups of chopped beef, 1/2 cup of fresh salsa and about 1/4 cups of chopped pickled jalapeno slices and simmered it until all the liquid was just evaporated but the beef was still very moist (I didn't want soggy lettuce cups). I shredded some block style Monterey Jack cheese and placed a bit in the bottom of each lettuce cup and then topped it with a scoop of the hot Carne Asada beef, topped it with additional cheese, a dollop of sour cream, diced tomatoes and some sliced green spring onions. It was amazingly delicious, simple and flavorful. It turned last night's beef roast into tonight's entirely new Mexican fiesta. I snapped a few photos below. Enjoy!





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