This post appears in the Personal Touches in the Kitchen challenge.

Thank you Epicurious and Bon Appetit for partnering with me on this recipe.

These slow cooker Chili Lime Tacos bring the goodness of the Mexican restaurant home with fork tender meat full of chili and lime flavor.

We have been in our new house for about three months now. (I guess I need to stop calling it a “new” house pretty soon, right?) We are almost settled with the exception of a few things that need to be put together and hung on the wall. We are so happy here but there a few things I miss about living “in town”. One of them is a wonderful little hole in the wall Mexican taqueria that we found in the ten years we were at our “old house”. It didn’t look like much from the outside, but inside the welcome was warm and the food was amazing and authentic.

The place was dim and small but the wonderful aromas coming from the kitchen were the draw. That and the sweet family that had been making the recipes on the menu for generations. The matriarch of the family greets guests warmly and as we became “regulars” a hug became part of the ritual. Her apron had flour on it from making tortillas by hand and she would always send a little something extra home- a few tamales or maybe queso to snack on later.
The thing that kept us going back again and again over the years was that it didn’t feel like “going out to dinner” it felt like visiting family. The food was made with love and pride. While it wasn’t fancy- my favorite were the simple street style tacos- it was quality, made from fresh ingredients, and their passion for their food came through in the flavor.

We will make a trip back into town at some point to give her a hug and have some of her homemade tacos but in the mean time I tried to recreate them at home. As I made them, I thought about how much care she took in each dish and it was a reminder how love can be shown by cooking someone a delicious meal from the heart.

This is such a simple but delicious dinner to get going in the morning and it makes your house smell amazing all day. If I’m feeling ambitious I pair it with rice and beans, but if it’s a busy day plain old chips with salsa or guacamole works too. Taco Tuesday has never tasted so good!

What’s your favorite off the beaten path restaurant is your favorite?

Want to meet purveyors who are making a difference with their customers? Check out BonAppetit.com’s“Out of the Kitchen”, an ongoing exploration of the relationships that build and sustain the food industry. See how hyper-local food markets operate and how their focus on quality and service keep customers coming back for more.

Read the original on: Penney Lane