Terrific Taco Salad

I made a delicious taco salad last night. I believe the last time I ate a taco salad was at Taco Time in Abbotsford...sometime during the late 1980's. I got the recipe from the Eat, Shrink And Be Merry Cookbook by Janet and Greta Podleski. I altered it slightly, and have given my substitutions in brackets.

Na-cho Ordinary Taco Salad

Beef Mixture:

1/1/2 lbs extra lean ground beef ( 1 lb lean ground beef)

1 cup chopped onion ( 1 small white onion)

1 large jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced ( 1 medium Poblano pepper seeded and chopped)

2 tsp minced garlic ( 1 lg garlic clove minced)

1Tbsp chili powder

2tsp ground cumin

2 cups quartered grape tomatoes

1/3 cup ketchup ( 1/2 ketchup, 1/2 sweet chili sauce)

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

( I added 1 peeled carrot chopped fine to the frying meat)

Salad:

12 cups torn Romaine and iceberg lettuce ( 1 head of Romaine lettuce)

1 cup canned whole kernel corn, drained

1 cup canned black beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 cup diced green bell pepper ( omitted)

1 cup packed shredded light old sharp cheddar cheese - 4 oz ( I grated some full fat marble cheese)

1 cup quartered grape tomatoes ( omitted)

1/3 cup chopped green onions

1 small ripe avocado peeled and sliced-optional

1 cup each light sour cream and medium salsa

• Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium high heat. Add beef, onions, jalapeno pepper, and garlic. Cook and stir until beef is no longer pink, breaking up any large pieces. Add chili powder and cumin. Cook 1 more minute. Add grape tomatoes, ketchup, salt, and pepper. Cook and stir for 2 more minutes. Remove skillet from heat and set aside.
• To assemble salad, spread lettuce over bottom of a serving platter. ( If you want to make individual salads instead of one large salad, spread lettuce over bottom of individual sized plates or shallow bowls.) Top with beef mixture, followed by corn, beans, green pepper, cheese, tomatoes, green onions, and avocado slices ( if using), in that order. Top with sour cream and salsa just before serving.

Makes 8 lunch/6 dinner servings

I thought the beef mixture was really flavourful. I didn't use a jalapeno pepper, as I find them tasteless. I substituted a Poblano pepper, not at all sure how spicy it would be...and didn't taste it at all. I made individual plates for the P-Man and I. He had 2 plate fulls, and I had 1 smaller one. There is enough beef mixture plus the other fixings for at least 1 other supper. I bet the beef is even better after sitting over night. On the YUM scale...this one is an 8!