Tacos El Gordo

Tacos de Adobada

After an exhilarating (aka nerve-racking) morning of skydiving above San Diego county, we were ecstatic to be back firmly on the ground and hungry from a whole morning of waiting for our jump time.  We stopped in Chula Vista at Tacos El Gordo for a pre-lunch snack.  They have an interesting setup to ordering food: a long cafeteria-like counter had several lines, one for each type of meat.  They serve several types of meat including pork adobada, asada, cow tongue, tripe, and even cow brains.  At the front of each line you approach the counter and tell them how you want your meat served: taco, tostada, mula, quesadilla, etc.  The crew makes your food right when you order it so it's incredibly fresh and hot.  After you get everything, you pay for your food at the front register. I ended up with tacos de adobada and tacos de asada.  The adobada is spicy pork that is shaved off a rotating spit of meat, just like gyros.  It was moderately spicy, juicy with streaks of fat and slightly charred at the edges.

Tacos de Asada

The asada is the usual chopped up marinated beef and though it was good, I would have opted for more tacos de adobada instead.  It was my first time trying these tacos and I thought they were some of the best tacos I've had this side of the border and certainly delicious after a crazy (!) morning.

Tacos El Gordo
689 H Street
Chula Vista, CA 91910

Chicken enchiladas

With leftover chicken, corn and tortillas, all I needed was a quick stop at Trader Joe's to get everything else for these delicious enchiladas.  What a great way to use up leftovers and also have enough for a second meal!  It's easy to substitute ingredients in this recipe, making it ideal for cleaning out the fridge.

Enchiladas
4-6 servings


2 cups leftover meat of your choice (shredded chicken, ground beef, etc.)
1 can corn
1 can black beans
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can diced green chilies
2 tsp chili pepper
12 flour tortillas
1 16oz jar salsa of your choice (I used TJ's Chipotle Salsa and it gave it a good level of spiciness)
2 cups shredded  cheddar cheese or Mexican cheese blend
1 can sliced olives

1. Preheat the oven to 400F.  Stir-fry the meat, corn, black beans, tomatoes, green chili and chili pepper in a saucepan over medium-high heat for 5 minutes.  Remove filling from heat and let cool slightly.
2. In a 9x13 baking pan, spread 1/3 of the salsa into the bottom of the pan.  Spoon 1/3 cup of the filling evenly down the center of a tortilla.  Roll tortilla tightly around the filling and place seam side down in the baking pan.  Pour remaining salsa evenly over the top of the enchiladas.  Spread cheese and olives evenly over the top of the salsa.
3. Bake for 25 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.  Remove from oven and let sit 10 minutes before serving.