I’ve had the product management bug since the early days of my childhood. While I have a stable of iPhone products that I spend the bulk of my time planning and developing, my need to make good stuff doesn’t end with software.

It extends entirely into the kitchen. I love cooking. It’s a creative act whose rewards are unrivaled by anything else. When you get it right, when the flavors and textures come together in a way that can satisfy and surprise, it feels incredible. Moreover, cooking is an important bit of empowerment. In today’s world of corporate food, unless you prepare it yourself, you’ll have no idea what’s truly happening on your plate. Cooking your own meals is the best way to understand your diet and cut out synthetic, unhealthy garbage. 90% of my meals come from my own kitchen prepared with ingredients that are as elemental as possible.

Cooking for me breaks down to about 25% experimentation and 75% refinement. That is, while I often try new things, I spend most of my time taking my established specialties and making them better. Of all of my kitchen products thus managed, I’m proudest of Turkey Tacos.

I love tacos: crunchy, savory and infinitely customizable. My favorite taco was always ground beef, but it had some drawbacks: greasy as hell yet the meat is paradoxically dry and crumbly. I don’t love ground turkey for many of the applications where it is recommended. Turkey burgers are odd, spongey, colorless things and turkey meatballs suffer from similar drawbacks.

Yet, for tacos, ground turkey is sublime. The meat breaks up into manageable, small chunks while remaining superbly moist and tender. The sponginess that is an indictment against turkey burgers is an asset for tacos, as the meat even after browning remains bursting with flavor.

The best part of turkey tacos: economy. They’re inexpensive to make and the prep time is less than 20 minutes.

Here’s my current, favorite formulation after over a dozen iterations. No sodium bomb flavor packet full of garbage, here. Just a tasty meal with ingredients you’ll look straight in the eye before cooking.

Turkey Tacos

You will need:

• Half a pound of ground turkey
• A can of simple, smooth tomato sauce (or, if you make yours from scratch, about a cup)
• A 4oz can of Green Chile (diced green chile pepper is a delicious addition to any meal. You can usually find it among your other canned foods at the Supermarket or at Trader Joes. Sometimes it’s hiding among the ethnic foods. Use whatever temperature suits you. Of course, if you’re lucky enough to live in New Mexico, substitute canned for fresh)
• A few spoonfuls of Frontera Chipotle salsa (can substitute with another splash of tomato sauce and some crushed red pepper, but seriously, find this salsa — it’s incredible)
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Black pepper
• Two cloves of garlic, minced or crushed
• Blue corn taco shells (I’ve found that Whole Foods’ house brand is the best of these and costs the same as nasty garbage from Old El Paso)
• Shredded cheese
• Optional: Frontera Chipotle Garlic Taco Sauce. Absurdly good as a topping at the end

Preparation:

In a skillet or electric wok, heat two tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat, then add your garlic. Keep the garlic moving so it doesn’t burn. Once the garlic has gone from white to light brown, carefully add the turkey. Try to avoid pouring in any of the water or other fluid that your turkey may be sitting in — your olive oil will spatter otherwise. Break up the turkey into small chunks while you brown it, again keeping it moving to prevent burning. As the turkey browns, add a light sprinkle of salt and pepper, according to your preferences. Better to be conservative at this stage — you want just enough to lightly flavor the meat and you can always add more later before you serve.

Take moment to preheat your oven according to the directions on your taco shells.

Once the meat is evenly brown, with nothing pink left in your pan, add the green chiles. Since turkey is so much less fatty, you won’t need to drain the pan of grease as you would with ground beef at this stage. If anything, your pan may be getting a little dry and sticky, especially if it doesn’t have non-stick coating. Add a splash of olive oil if necessary to keep things lubricated. After about a minute, once the green chile is cooked through, stir in the tomato sauce.

After everything has been combined and the meat has a light, even coat of tomato sauce, turn off the heat and have a taste of your taco filling. If you’re satisfied with the spiciness and overall flavor, great, you’re all set. If you want to ratchet up the heat, though, add a few spoonfuls of the Chipotle Salsa, then taste again. Repeat until it’s just as you like it.

Let the filling rest and cool while you toast the taco shells according to the directions on their box. Usually about a minute at 400 degrees F. While the shells cook, transfer your taco filling to a serving bowl. Set the table with your bowl of turkey, the cheese, your taco sauce and the salsa. Bring the shells to the table, then let the table take turns building tacos. Two or more spoons in the turkey bowl are a good idea. Fill with turkey, top with sauce, salsa and cheese, to preferences. Makes about eight tacos.

A couple of notes: Like I said, I try to build with the most elemental, simple ingredients possible. At the same time, the Frontera Taco Sauce and Salsa are outstanding shortcuts. Short list of natural ingredients, made in small batches, no scary garbage and really, really tasty. Besides all that, Rick Bayless is the man. Why blue corn? It’s a better shell. Crispy but firm. Your tacos won’t fall apart mid-way through eating.

Leftovers from an earlier iteration, before discovering the perfection of blue corn shells. Look at that gorgeous filling!

Another earlier iteration. I was using some mild salsa and tobasco to get toward the heat I wanted. The Frontera Chipotle Salsa produces much better results.

It took a lot of... testing to ensure I had the right Frontera salsa for the job. My favorite remains Chipotle but the other flavors are also delicious and great for chips.