Chicken Tacos — The Simple Meal That Closes Out Year One

One year. Fifty-two weeks of fire, smoke, and the people I feed. I'm sitting in my backyard at 5 AM on the first day of spring, which in Phoenix means it's 68 degrees and the sky is turning from black to that pre-dawn purple that only the desert does properly. The coals in the chimney are catching. The coffee in my hand is too hot. Sofia is asleep. Jessica is asleep, growing our second child in her sleep, which is the most impressive multitasking I've ever witnessed. Everything is quiet except the crack of the coals and the distant sound of the city waking up.

A year ago, I was thirty. Now I'm thirty-one, which is the same but different. In the last year: I entered my first BBQ competition and finished fifth. Then third. Then first. Then seventh at the state championship. I built a ramada with my father. I watched my daughter turn from a baby into a person with opinions and a vocabulary and a roar. I cooked probably five hundred meals — at home, at the station, at competitions, at my parents' house. I fought fires and saved lives and came home every time, which is not guaranteed and which I never take for granted.

And now: a new baby on the way. Due in October. A second child who will change everything again in ways I can't predict and wouldn't want to. The house will be louder. The food will stretch further. The grill will burn more often. The table will need more chairs. And I will be there, at the center of it, doing the only thing I know how to do: showing up. Feeding people. Standing at the grill because that's where my father taught me to stand and it's where I'll teach my children to stand after me.

Today I'm making something simple: breakfast tacos. Scrambled eggs with chorizo, potatoes, and cheese, wrapped in warm flour tortillas. Nothing fancy. Nothing competitive. Just food, made with hands that know what they're doing, served to the people I love most in the world when they wake up and wander into the kitchen and find me there, as they always do, already cooking.

My dad has a saying — well, he has one saying, which he applies to everything: "Just show up." Just show up to the fire. Just show up to the grill. Just show up to the marriage, the fatherhood, the 4 AM alarm, the Tuesday night basketball practice, the Sunday cookout, the midnight competition cook. Just show up, and the rest takes care of itself. I don't know if that's true for everyone. But it's true for me. It's been true for fifty-two weeks, and it'll be true for the next fifty-two, and the fifty-two after that. You just show up. That's all. That's everything.

The coals are ready. Time to cook.

The morning I closed out year one, I wasn’t thinking about competition scores or smoke rings — I was thinking about flour tortillas warming in a cast iron pan and the sound of my family waking up to find food already on the table. Tacos have always been that recipe for me: no performance, no pretense, just good ingredients treated right. These chicken tacos are what I make when I want to feed the people I love without making it complicated, because after fifty-two weeks of showing up, sometimes showing up just means getting a meal on the table that everyone at the table will actually eat.

Chicken Tacos

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Total Time: 35 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 8 small flour or corn tortillas
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar or Mexican blend cheese
• 1/2 cup pico de gallo or fresh salsa
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 avocado, sliced
• Fresh cilantro and lime wedges, for serving

Instructions

1. Season the chicken. Pat chicken dry and coat evenly with olive oil. Mix chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper in a small bowl, then rub all over the chicken.
2. Cook the chicken. Heat a cast iron skillet or grill pan over medium-high heat. Cook chicken 6–7 minutes per side until cooked through and slightly charred at the edges, reaching an internal temperature of 165°F. Remove from heat and let rest 5 minutes.
3. Slice the chicken. Cut chicken against the grain into thin strips or rough chunks, whichever you prefer. Keep it rustic — this isn’t a restaurant.
4. Warm the tortillas. Place tortillas directly over a gas burner or in a dry skillet for 30–45 seconds per side until warm, pliable, and lightly charred in spots. Wrap in a clean towel to keep warm.
5. Assemble the tacos. Layer chicken into each tortilla. Top with cheese, pico de gallo, a dollop of sour cream, and avocado slices. Finish with fresh cilantro and a squeeze of lime.
6. Serve immediately. Put them on the table while they’re still hot. That’s the whole job.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 480 | Protein: 38g | Fat: 22g | Carbs: 32g | Fiber: 4g | Sodium: 620mg