Cilantro Beef Tacos

School started. Sofia in fifth grade — the final year of elementary school, the year where the girl who started kindergarten nervous and came home with a best friend by day two becomes a girl who walks into school like she owns it, because in many ways she does. She is the top student, the top scorer on the soccer team, the girl who can debone a chicken and write a research paper on fermentation and grill corn at a professional restaurant. Fifth grade does not know what is coming.

Diego in second grade. Mrs. Chen this year — a teacher who Jessica researched extensively and who comes recommended as someone who "channels energy productively," which is teacher-speak for "she can handle your feral child and turn his chaos into learning." Diego came home from day one and said, "Mrs. Chen is nice and she has a lizard in the classroom." The lizard has secured Diego's loyalty for the entire year. A teacher who keeps a lizard understands boys.

At Rivera's, we are approaching the six-month mark and the rhythm is mature. The midnight smoker lighting is automatic — Tomás or I, alternating shifts, the 2 AM brisket load, the 6 AM prep. The kitchen runs without hesitation. The dining room flows. The customers have become a community — regulars who know each other's names, who sit at the community table together, who ask Roberto about his health and his newspaper and his opinion on the Diamondbacks. Gerald is there every Thursday. A woman named Patricia comes every Saturday for birria tacos and has not missed a single Saturday since we opened. A family — the Nguyens — brings their three kids every Sunday after church and the youngest always orders extra cornbread. These are our people. These are the strangers who became regulars who became family. The table gathers them.

I started coaching Diego's fall Little League this week — assistant coach again, Coach Dave at the helm, twelve seven-year-olds with twelve different levels of skill and one shared characteristic: none of them can throw accurately to first base. The practices are joyful chaos. Diego is batting third this season (alphabetical order was abandoned in favor of a strategic lineup that Coach Dave spent three hours constructing and which will make zero difference in the outcome of any game because these are seven-year-olds and outcomes are determined by which team has the fewest players chasing butterflies during a play).

The fire burns. The school year begins. The restaurant serves. The ordinary weeks continue, and the ordinary weeks are the weeks that build a life.

Patricia has been here every Saturday since we opened — not once has she missed it, and not once has she ordered anything other than the birria tacos. That kind of loyalty is the highest compliment a restaurant can receive, and it got me thinking about what makes a beef taco worth coming back to week after week: the brightness of fresh cilantro, the depth of a well-seasoned cut, the simplicity of a warm tortilla holding it all together. These cilantro beef tacos are my home version of that Saturday feeling — the one where the table is already set before anyone has to ask.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Total Time: 35 min | Servings: 4 (2 tacos per person)

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs flank steak or skirt steak, thinly sliced against the grain
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped, plus extra for serving
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (about 2 limes)
8 small corn tortillas, warmed
1/2 white onion, finely diced, for serving
Lime wedges, for serving
Salsa or hot sauce, for serving

Instructions

Season the beef. In a large bowl, combine the sliced steak with cumin, chili powder, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper. Toss well to coat every piece evenly. Let sit for at least 10 minutes at room temperature while you prep the remaining ingredients.
Sear the beef. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large cast-iron skillet or heavy pan over high heat until just smoking. Working in two batches to avoid crowding, add the seasoned beef in a single layer and cook undisturbed for 2—3 minutes until browned. Flip and cook another 1—2 minutes. Transfer to a plate and repeat with the remaining oil and beef.
Add garlic and cilantro. Reduce the heat to medium. Return all the beef to the pan. Add the minced garlic and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds until fragrant. Remove from heat and stir in the fresh lime juice and chopped cilantro. Taste and adjust salt as needed.
Warm the tortillas. Heat corn tortillas directly over a gas flame for 20—30 seconds per side, or warm them in a dry skillet over medium heat for about 1 minute per side, until soft and lightly charred at the edges. Stack and wrap in a clean kitchen towel to keep warm.
Assemble and serve. Spoon the cilantro beef onto each warm tortilla. Top with diced white onion and extra fresh cilantro. Serve immediately with lime wedges and your preferred salsa or hot sauce on the side.

Nutrition (per serving)

Cilantro Beef Tacos — The Saturday Regular