A Jet Settler No More

Traveling over the holidays can be such a drag, especially when you are forced to eat meals in airports. We recently had a layover in the Dallas International airport over Thanksgiving on our way back home to Kansas City. After a week of eating traditional Turkey day casseroles and pies, we were looking for something on the lighter side, knowing there would not be much variety. Settling for a huge slice of Sbarro's greasy pizza or the MSG buffet would not be an option. That's when we came upon Urban Taco (a Modern Mexican Taqueria) in Terminal C. We thought is was just a normal sloppy taco place where food sits all day under heat lamps. It was not! This place had a menu like I have never seen before in any airport.

I ordered from the list of Urban Tacos. My first choice was one Chicken Al Carbon taco which included garlic mojo grilled chicken, tomatillo serrano verde salsa, manchego cheese and pico ge gallo. My second choice was the Roast Corn & Lime Crema taco which had pico de gallo, guacamole, and cilantro. This one was my favorite. I cannot even explain the consistency, but the flavors were right on. The sweet corn mixed with the tangy lime. I mean, perfection! These tacos were priced right from $2.75- $3.25 each. It was a cheap meal considering we were in an airport! Each taco came with fresh masa corn tortillas. They had a bit of sweetness and were very warm and chewy- the way good tortillas should be. The meal came with two sides. I chose blanco beans and poblano green rice. I had never had refried white beans before. I loved them. This Mexican meal was probably the most delicious Mexican meal I have ever eaten next to Frontera Grill. It was fresh and authentic and I felt good after eating it. We were so happy that we found Urban Taco in a see of fat food restaurants and no that was not a typo.

After our experience, we checked them out online to see if there were any locations outside of Dallas and there are not...yet. The food was so good, I could see them eventually expanding beyond the Texas area. They pride themselves on a time-honored approach in culinary techniques with a focus on details. They grind their own spices and hand-make their own tortillas. That attention to detail is what made our meal so amazingly yummy. A place like this stands out in a world of mass produced, super-sized, lard in a bag. I suggest if you are ever in the Dallas area, check this place out.

One more thing, When JJ ordered his meal he chose to get the tradtional Mexican rice milk drink, Horchata. It was sweet with a touch of cinnamon- perfect to go along with our meal. I recently saw a recipe for Peach Horchata on the Food Network. See below.


(Sunny Anderson's Peach Horchata)

INGREDIENTS
· 8 cups water · 1 cup white rice · 1 cinnamon stick · 1 peach, pitted and quartered (use frozen if fresh unavailable) · 3/4 cup sugar · 2 teaspoons vanilla extract · Ground cinnamon, for garnish

DIRECTIONS
· In a saucepan over medium heat, combine 6 cups water, rice, cinnamon, peach slices, sugar, and vanilla. Stir to combine.
· Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook, covered, for 40 minutes, until rice is tender.
· Remove from heat and let cool.
· Discard cinnamon stick and puree in batches in a blender.
· Strain through a fine mesh strainer into serving pitcher. Discard pulp, and stir in the remaining 2 cups of water.
· Serve warm or chilled, dusted with ground cinnamon.

Enjoy!