Carne Asada Tacos

I love the spicy carne asada tacos at a local eatery and went in search of a recipe I could use to make them myself. I ran across this one in our local paper.

• Ready In: 45 mins
• Serves: 6

Ingredients

• For carne asada

• 2  lbs  flank steaks or 2  lbs  round steaks
• 1⁄3 cup  freshly squeezed lime juice
• 2  teaspoons garlic powder
• 2  tablespoons crushed red pepper flakes
•  fresh ground black pepper, to taste
• 2  tablespoons  finely ground Mexican oregano (optional)

• Quick Salsa

• 4  plum tomatoes, chopped (Roma)
• 1  jalapeno pepper, chopped fine
• 1  clove garlic, minced
• 2  green onions, white and green parts,chopped
• 6 -8  sprigs cilantro, chopped
• 2  tablespoons fresh lime juice
•  salt

• Garnishes for Tacos

• 1⁄3 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1  cup lettuce, shredded
• 1  onion, sliced and grilled (optional)
• 4 -6  green onions, chopped
•  fresh lime wedge
• 12  corn tortillas or 12  flour tortillas, warmed

Directions

1. Marinate meat, then prepare garnish ingredients and salsa before grilling meat.
2. Plan to have tortillas warmed as you are ready to serve meat.
3. For Carne asada: Marinate the thin steaks in lime juice in a shallow glass dish.
4. Let set for 1 minutes, then add garlic, crushed red chile, black pepper, and Mexican oregano (if desired).
5. Marinate in refrigerator for at least 20 minutes, but longer is better.
6. When grill is red hot, grill steaks on each side for 1-2 minutes.
7. Meat is thin and cooks quickly.
8. Sprinkle meat with coarse salt as it cooks.
9. Let meat cool a couple of minutes, then cut into thin strips against the grain.
10. Serve immediately with warmed tortillas, salsa and garnishes.
11. Salsa: combine all ingredients and season to taste.
12. You should have about 1 1/4 cups.