Taco Salad – dinner and lunch

Taco salad is one of Carver’s favorites and one that I haven’t tried previously with any success. The recipe came to us from Donna. I made up the proportions and they seemed to work well. This recipe yielded four servings- two for lunch and two for dinner.

The salad is so hearty that it held very well from the evening to lunch the next day. The only thing I would recommend is to keep the chips and dressing separate (from the other ingredients and each other) and add on right before eating. No one likes a soggy salad or chip!

Ingredients

1 head romaine lettuce, chopped and divided

1 pound lean ground beef

1/2 packet taco seasoning

1 avocado, cubed

1 bell pepper, diced

1 cup black or kidney beans, rinsed and drained

3 ounces tortillas, cut in strips and fried or baked

10 cherry tomatoes, quartered

4 ounces Colby jack cheese, cubed

1/2 cup light French dressing, divided

• Cook beef in large skillet over medium high heat until cooked through. Drain off any excess fat and add in taco seasoning and 1/2 cup warm water; stir to combine. Cover, reduce heat and simmer about 5 minutes until sauce is thickened.
• While sauce thickens prepare salad. Combine romaine, beans, avocado and tomatoes in a large bowl. Mix well and then divide up. Half of this will be for your lunches.
• Once the beef has cooked, give it a good stir and put half of the beef towards the dinner salad and the remainder for the lunch salads.
• Now to add in the chips, cheese and dressing. Mix away. *note: remember the dressing and chips shouldn’t go right in with the lunch salads yet.