Taco Salad
An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 60 minutes
Serves: 4
- 250g/8.8ozs lean beef mince
- 15g/0.5oz taco seasoning mix (half a packet)
- 250g/8.8ozs ice berg lettuce, chopped
- 225g/8ozs tomatoes (around 2)
- 40g/1.4ozs red onion (around 1/3 a medium onion), diced
- 400g/14ozs tin black beans, drained weight around 260g/9ozs
- 80g/3ozs shredded cheese
- 50g/1.7ozs pickled jalapeno slices
- 1 avocado
- 240g/8.5oz or 4 cups corn chips, crushed
Taco Salad Dressing
- 55g/2ozs thousand island or burger sauce
- 55g/2ozs full fat natural Greek yogurt (not sweetened) or sour cream
- 1.5 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons lime juice
- Lime wedges to serve
Step 1 - If you want to make the tortilla bowl, spray both sides of a tortilla with olive oil spray and press down into a round baking dish. Bake at 180C/350F for 15 minutes. Cool and use as a bowl to serve the tacos.
Step 2 - Then make the beef mince as it needs time to cool down. Place 3 cups of water onto boil and then add the beef mince. Then using a wooden spoon break the mince up. Cook for 5 minutes or so until the mince turns brown. Then strain (reserving the stock for soup, but Teddy also loves this!). Place the mince back in the pan and add the taco seasoning and cook for a couple of minutes and mix it in well. Spread the mince out in a bowl or on a metal plate and place in the fridge or freezer to cool quickly.
Step 3 - Cut the lettuce into small pieces and then dice the tomatoes. Season the tomatoes with salt and pepper. Dice the red onion and drain the black beans well running under cold water until the water runs clear.
Step 4 -To make the salad dressing whisk the dressing/sauce, yogurt, brown sugar, salt together in a bowl and then whisk in the lime juice til smooth.
Step 5 -Place the lettuce in the largest bowl you have and add the tomato, onion, black beans, cheese and jalapenos. Once the beef has cooled down add this too. Then add the dressing and toss. Lastly cut the avocado into chunks and fold these through. Check for seasoning adding salt and pepper to taste. Serve with corn chips sprinkled on top and in a cup on the side so that you can add them in so the salad stays crunchy.
Other Salad Recipes You Might Like: BEST Guacamole Recipe, Esquites or Mexican Street Corn Salad Recipe, Guacamole Salad Recipe and Green Goddess Salad Recipe
Dear Reader, you'll start seeing a few more beef, lamb and pork recipes here. This is mainly because a few weeks ago Mr NQN got his blood tests back and it turns out he is very, very low in iron. It probably stems from last year when he got the results that he had high cholesterol he went vegan, then vegetarian because his instinct is to go as vegan as possible because that's how he grew up. He did start eating meat but it was mainly chicken. But unfortunately it also meant that as a result he now has dangerously low levels of iron that the doctor is concerned about. It's not a matter of taking iron supplements which I thought would be the easy solution.
The doctor told him that he specifically needed to eat lean red meat which he took as a bit of a surprise because there's also the family complication of hemachromatosis. This is a disorder where the body absorbs and stores too much iron and this runs in the Elliott family. This amount of excess iron can damage organs like the liver, heart and pancreas and his brother Manu has it (I used to be able to smell the iron coming off his pores!). But Mr NQN is a carrier and doesn't have the disorder but he thought that this would somehow cover it off.
Thankfully he loves this taco salad and it is such an easy one to put together using lean beef that he doesn't grumble which he sometimes does when he has to eat beef and lamb. Honestly the carry on is a bit much but this doctor's order to eat it is the universe's way of perhaps telling him that moderation is the key.
So tell me Dear Reader, is there something that you don't like to eat but you have to?