Taco Salad

I love, love, LOVE salad, and fortunately my husband does, too. Said husband brought a lovely box full of Roma tomatoes and Anaheim peppers home from work yesterday. A guy he works with has a great big garden and shared. Thank you! I must say garden fresh vegetables are the best, so all of you with gardens, I am pretty envious right now. I suppose I could dig up the bushes outside the house and garden away, but I'm pretty sure my Nazi homeowner's association would march the plants into oblivion and slap me in the face with a hefty fine. So until I can plan an uprising, no garden for me. Selling the place would work, too, I guess. Maybe I'll just plant a nice kiss of gratitude on husband's harvest-sharing colleague. The tomatoes and peppers were delicious!

On to the recipe. I'm not a fan of taco seasoning. At all. So I didn't use any to season the ground beef. Instead, I sauteed some onion, Anaheim pepper and garlic in a little olive oil and added it along with some salt, pepper and cilatro to the ground beef. It had a nice flavor; could have used a little chili powder and a dash of cumin, but all in all the meat was good. The ingredients and directions are below. Enjoy!

1 teaspoon olive oil

1/2 white onion, diced

1 Anaheim pepper, diced

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 pound ground beef

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoon cilantro, chopped

1 can black beans, drained

1 head romaine lettuce, shredded

2 tomatoes, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

1 avocado, chopped

1 cucumber, sliced

Shredded cheddar cheese

Lime wedges

Tortilla chips

*Salad dressing--I used tomatillo ranch, recipe below

Meat and beans preparation: Pour olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and pepper and saute several minutes, or until onion is translucent. Add crushed garlic and stir constantly for 60 second. Add ground beef, salt and pepper and cook until brown. Taste and reseason meat if needed. Add cilantro, stir, turn heat to low, and cover until serving. Cook beans according to package directions and keep warm until serving.

Salad preparation: Toss salad ingredients together in a large salad bowl. I like to shred lettuce into the bowl and put the other vegetables on top, tossing very lightly once everything is added. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until serving.

Tortilla chip preparation: I made my own chips, but packged tortilla chips are just as good. If you want to make your own chips read on, otherwise skip to the salad dressing recipe below.

Move one oven rack to top position and turn broiler on high. Spray a cooking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. I put corn tortillas on a cutting board and used a sharp knife to cut them into strips approximately 1 inch wide and 2-3 inches long; a pizza cutter would work well for this, too. Place the tortilla strips on the baking sheet and spray them lightly with cooking spray. Salt the tortilla strips if desired and put the baking sheet under the broiler. Broil for 5-7 minutes and then turn them. Cook for an additional 5-7 minutes or until golden brown and crisp.

*Tomatillo Ranch Salad Dressing

1 jalepeno (remove seeds for milder dressing)

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 tomatillo, chopped

1 handful cilantro

Juice of 1 lime

1 cup milk

1 package ranch dressing powder (I used Hidden Valley)

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup sour cream

Put all but the last two ingredients in the blender and mix until pureed. Whisk in mayonnaise and sour cream. Chill until ready to serve. Dressing lasts up to one week covered in the refrigerator.

To serve: Layer tortilla chips, ground beef, black beans, shredded cheese, and salad on a plate. Drizzle with dressing and garnish with lime wedges, cilantro, and a few more chips.

Taco Salad