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"A gourmet who thinks of calories is like a tart who looks at her watch." - James Beard


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Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Taco Salad

I love main course salads. A meal in a bowl. One of my favourites is taco salad, but I'm a little picky about how it's made and this is not a light choice, so we don't have it often.  It is a delicious treat though!




Here's what you need:



Ground beef, black beans, taco seasoning, lettuce, green onions, grated cheese, sour cream and salsa.  Also and avocado, not pictured.  




I make my own taco seasoning which I use on chicken for fajitas as well as beef.  If you can't read the bottle, I combine 1 tbsp cumin, 1 tbsp chili powder, 1 tbsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, 1/2 tbsp salt, and 1/2 tbsp black pepper.  




I try not to use ground beef too often. I just don't consider it a healthy choice. But it is so delicious in this taco salad it's worth it as an occasional treat. You could also use ground chicken or turkey for a lighter meal.  And you can use very lean ground beef without compromising flavour. 




Cook the beef in a skillet until it starts to brown, then add a large chopped onion and some diced jalapenos.




Once the beef is cooked and the vegetables are softened, add a few tablespoons of the taco seasoning and about 1/2 cup of water.




Simmer until the liquid is mostly absorbed, then add black beans.




I also added some salsa.  You can add it to the beef or add it to the salad at the end, whichever you prefer.  




Meanwhile, assemble the salad. This is romaine lettuce from our garden but you can use any greens.

Add chopped avocado.




And top with some grated cheese and broken tortilla chips.  These are baked chips which work well in this salad. 




Next, smother with the beef, onion, bean mixture and top with a dollop of sour cream and some chopped green onions.




There's no "dressing" on this salad.  The saucy beef and sour cream combine to dress the greens.  Extra tortilla chips to scoop up the salad wouldn't be a bad idea. Or a fork. 


The leftover beef is awesome on nachos or in tortillas as tacos or burritos.  

2 comments:

  1. Did you use can black beans? If so do you drain and rinse? Ground beef is the way to go. Way more flavour.

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  2. Definitely not the healthiest salad but it was amazingly tasty. (And yes, although Jen hates beans for the most part, we rinsed and drained some canned black beans. We only bother with cooking natural beans if we are making burritos.)

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