We've been making this delicious taco salad for years. I first learned from my aunt Beverly Larson when I was 13 and didn't even know what a taco was. 😂 We used to dress it with store bought 1000 Island dressing but have been trying to buy less processed foods full of mystery ingredients (and sugar!) from big corporations. Here's how I made it entirely from scratch with healthier ingredients. No sugar, no gluten! It was so good even the menfolk in our house gobbled it up.
Sauce/dressing
Ground beef (or turkey)
1t dry mustard
1t smoked paprika
Pinch of ground clove
4 cloves garlic
1/2 onion
1 can green salsa (Herdez)
3T avocado oil mayo (Primal Kitchen)
1T tomato paste
2T chopped dill pickles
Chopped kale, swiss chard, celery (see photo)
Salad
Tortilla chips
Iceberg lettuce and salad mixings - carrots, tomato, cucumber etc (see photo)
Shredded cheese (optional) used to always add but with the extra sauce this time it didn't need it
Directions The meat sauce ends up being the dressing for the salad. Start by sautéing ground beef then add 1t dry mustard, 1t smoked paprika, and a pinch ground clove, these spices are part of the 1000 Island flavor, no salt there is lots of salt in the tortilla chips added at the end.
Add the chopped garlic and onions, sprinkle the onions with a dusting of baking soda this gets the onions to break down so they caramelize super fast. (I learned this from a New Scientist article see below). Add chopped celery, kale, and swiss chard. Sautéed just until greens have reduced in size, the veggies can be vibrant green as in barely cooked it’s a salad after all. Add the 1T tomato paste, 1 small can green salsa, 3 T mayo, 2 T of chopped dill pickles then mix.
When the greens were cooking chop whatever you normally put in a mixed salad we use iceberg lettuce because it holds its shape better than most lettuce with this heavy dressing. Sprinkle with crushed tortilla chips, cheese (optional), and the above meat sauce. Mix and Devour!
Click Here for the fascinating article I read about the scientific shortcuts to cooking delicious caramelized onions in New Scientist 1/4/20.
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