Navajo Fry Bread / Navajo Tacos

Source: The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients:
for the fry bread:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking powder (slightly rounded teaspoons)
3/4 cups milk
water as needed to get dough to come together
vegetable shortening or lard for frying (I used vegetable oil, even though P-Dub says it's way, way, way better with shortening and/or lard)

for the tacos:
1 lb ground beef
1 can black beans
1 can tomato sauce
1 packet taco seasoning (or 2-3 Tablespoons homemade taco seasoning)
shredded lettuce
grated cheese
chopped tomatoes
diced green onions
sour cream and/or ranch dressing
salsa

Directions:
for the fry bread:
Stir together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Stir with a fork as you pour in the milk; keep stirring for a bit to get it to come together as much as possible. Add just enough water (about 1/4 to 1/2 cup) to get it to come together. Cover the bowl with a dish towel and let it sit for 35 to 45 minutes to rest (mine rested for over an hour and it was just fine).

When you're ready to make the fry bread, heat about 1 to 2 inches shortening/lard (or oil) in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Grab a plum-sized piece of dough (or larger if you want larger fry bread) and press it into a circle with your fingers: place it on a clean surface and begin pressing in the center and work your way out, stretching it as you go.

When the circle is about 4 to 7 inches (however big you want it) carefully drape it into the skillet. Allow it to fry on one side until golden brown, about 1 minute, then carefully flip it to the other side using tongs. Fry it for another 30 to 45 seconds.

Remove the fry bread to a paper towel-lined plate and allow it to drain while you fry the other pieces.

Serve warm!

for the tacos:
Brown the ground beef and drain the grease.  Add the black beans, tomato sauce and taco seasoning and let everything simmer until your fry bread is ready to eat.

Take a piece of fry bread and top it with the meat mixture followed by lettuce, tomatoes, onions, cheese, salsa and sour cream (in no particular order) and/or any other taco toppings you love.

Notes:
We had regular ol' taco salad a couple of weeks ago for dinner.  As we were eating, Gregg mentioned that he hadn't had forever, but loved, Navajo tacos.  I hadn't eaten a Navajo taco since elementary school lunch days, let alone made them to eat myself, but I was up to the challenge.  Luckily, good ol' P-Dub spelled everything out plain and simple and it was no challenge at all to whip these up for our dinner last week.  Yum!  I think we'll keep these in our rotation.

One more note: I halved the recipe for the fry bread since it was only two of us eating and it made 4 good-sized (I'd say 4-5ish inches diameter) fry breads and one little guy (~2 incher) that was left over.