How to grill a soft taco

Medium size flour tortilla

grated cheeses, mixed soft types, 1/2 cup per taco

sliced or chopped cooked meat, 1/3 cup per taco

cooked or fried onions, 1/4 cup per taco

chopped pickled peppers, olives, pimento, 1/4 cup

This is a fast snack or meal you can make with leftover meats in about two or three minutes per taco. I prefer to use shredded or chopped cooked chicken, pork, or thinly sliced meat. Crumbled cooked fish is a good option to meats. Avoid ground beef with juice or gravy or meats in sauces as those are too wet and tend to run out onto the hot metal and burn on.

The first flour tortilla should be placed flat on the unheated grill (George Foreman, panini-maker, or flat skillet). You are going to fill it and fold the tortilla over before you turn on the grill. An already-hot grill will dry out the tortilla while you are filling it, so be sure to start making the taco on a cold surface.

Put the ingredients in thin layers in this order: First spread half the grated cheese on half of the tortilla toward the upper side of the grill if it is inclined like the George Foreman. Do not spread cheese all the way to the edges of the tortilla. Then place all the meat in a single layer on the cheese. Then dot or sprinkle the pickles and onions on the meat. If you use olive tapenade or a little of other moist fillings, drop a little at a time over the meat with a teaspoon. Last, spread the rest of the grated cheese on top of the other fillings. Now, lift the lower half of the tortilla up over the fillings, fold it over, and gently press it down so that all its edges meet or are nearly level. The folded middle of it must be on the lower side of any incline so that the ingedients do not fall down out of it when you close the lid or upper grill of the George Foreman or panini-maker type grills. Do not leave any cheese on the grill surface or it will get too crispy and burn during cooking. Turn on or plug in the grill and let it heat until you first hear a sizzle, about three minutes. Try not to lift the lid and look more than once. If the tortilla has golden or brown lines on it and cheese or other ingredients look melted along the edges it is ready to remove with a plastic spatula. If cheese begins to run out the ends of the taco, unplug the grill and remove the taco right away. In a flat skillet, cheese will melt before the flour browns much and you should press it down a little more with the spatula before gently flipping once to cook the other side. But do not flip the taco if it is in a George Foreman grill or panini-maker.

This is a great way to make a fast snack using leftover meats and other relatively dry ingredients. The heated cheese helps stick them together. Avoid sauces or wet dressings while cooking as they liquefy, run onto the hot metal, and burn.

If you are making several tacos, prepare the second and others on plates or other cool surfaces while cooking one at a time. As you remove a cooked one, lift the next uncooked filled open tortilla on a plate and slide it onto the warm grill. Usually, it is okay to touch the edge of the plate to the grill for a moment to slide the tortilla off the plate. Fold the tortilla in half while it is on the grill. The subsequent tacos will cook faster and you should unplug the Foreman type grill between each to keep it from getting too hot. You will lose fillings if you fold the filled tacos prior to placing them on the grill, but they can be folded on the grill without touching fingers to the hot surfaces. Use the edge of the spatula to life the edge of the tortilla away from the grill before grasping it for folding.

If the first one has cooled off too much by the time you have grilled other tacos, do not put it back on the grill but reheat it in the microwave.