My Big Fat Recipe
TACO SALAD!!!
I love taco salad! Everyone one should. My family has been making taco salad for twenty plus years, it's in our blood. It's become a Friday night tradition for my family and all my siblings and their families too. Simple to make, plus open to lots of variations to meet anybodies taste. The ingredients that follow are listed in how they go on the plate with the tortilla chips first.
1 - Handful of crushed up Doritos enough to cover the bottom of the plate (or whatever kind of tortilla chips you like)
2 - 2/3 of a cup of Ground Beef made with taco seasoning (I use diced chicken breast a lot or ground turkey)
3 - Lettuce (Spinach is a good alternative, I really like butter lettuce)
4 - Diced tomatoes
5 - Shredded Extra Sharp Cheddar cheese
6 - Sliced Olives
7 - Diced Onions (Green Onions are great too)
8 - Avocado
9 - Sour Cream
10 - Salsa
11- Banana Peppers (or whatever peppers you want)
12 - Refried beans around the edge of the Taco Salad (this helps keep it on the plate and keeps it all together as you eat.)
Of course things like the sour creams, olives, peppers, etc are up to you and your tastes. One of the tricks I use to get some awesome flavor into the food deals with beef and beans preparation. When you cook the meat with taco seasoning it calls for 3/4 of a cup of water when you simmer it, plus draining the fat before adding. I like to keep the fat and instead of water I use the juice from the canned olives and and about 3 tablespoons of banana pepper juice (any hot pepper juice will do). When it's done I drain most of the juice into a pot with the refried beans (if you add it all at once your beans may end up runny) then add about a 1/4 cup of cheddar cheese into the beans and cook till it's all melted and mixed together. I've found this to be the best recipe to make canned refried. Alternately you can mash your own beans using one can of pinto beans and one can of kidney beans. Mash them in a large frying pan gradually turning up the heat as they become more mashed. Also make sure if you mash your own that you buy beans without sugar in them or your refried beans will be sweet and it will ruin your taco salad. Prep and cook time is easily 30 minutes or less especially if you have a food processor. If you like this recipe try my others for Burrito Salad and my recipe for Taco Salad Omelette.