Jen’s Taco Salad

My friend Jen from Santa Cruz made this delicious taco salad for me a number of years ago. We’ve been close friends since high school and have been through a lot together. Everytime I make this I think of her 🙂 Thanks Jen!!

There are a lot of options here. Use Smart Ground for vegetarian. Omit cheese to make it vegan.

It looks like there are a lot of steps/ingredients, but it really comes together very quickly. If you have extra taco filling, it’s great in…guess what??…tacos!!! And also good in burritos, quesadillas, scrambled eggs…be creative!

Hungry yet?

Ingredients:

Taco Filling:

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
1-12 ounce package Smart Ground  (regular or Mexican flavor), or 12-ounces ground beef
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1-1/2 teaspoons dried oregano, crumbled
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
3/4 cup frozen corn kernels
Salt to taste

Salad Assembly:

Tortilla chips (can use baked tortilla chips), slightly crushed into bite-sized pieces
Salad greens
3 tomatoes, chopped, about 3 cups
A sweet salad dressing, such as French or Marie’s Raspberry Vinaigrette
1-1/2 cups shredded cheese
Salsa

1. In a medium sized skillet, heat extra virgin olive oil over medium high heat. When hot, add onion and cook for about 5 minutes, until it starts getting soft.

2. Add chopped red and green bell pepper and cook for 3-4 minutes til slightly softened.

3. Add Smart Ground or ground beef and stir to combine. Add cumin, chili powder and oregano and cook either until Smart Ground is warmed through or until ground beef is cooked.

4. Add black beans and corn and cook until corn is heated through. Set aside.

5. On dinner plates or large salad bowls, place a single serving of crushed tortilla chips, about 3/4 cup or as much as is desired. Measurements of ingredients used to assemble the salad below are estimates, use your best judgement.

6. Place about 1/2-3/4 cup of warm taco filling mixture on top of the crushed tortilla chips.

7. Place about 3/4 cup of salad greens on top of taco filling mixture. Sprinkle 1/3 cup of chopped tomato on salad greens.

8. Drizzle desired amount of salad dressing over the salad.

9. Sprinkle about 1/4 cup of shredded cheese on top. Spoon desired amount of salsa on top.

My kids love salad if it’s taco salad! Makes enough for at least 6 very hungry people.