Taco Salad Heaven

I'm *finally* feeling better. I'm going to take one more day off (after all this time, what's one more day? LOL!) and start back running tomorrow. I'm telling myself to take it slow and easy but we'll see how it goes. ;-)

While I was killing time this morning, I checked out Kalyn's most recent post over at Kalyn's Kitchen. Kalyn's Kitchen is a great blog full of South Beach Diet recipes. Every recipe I've made from her site has been incredible. Very tasty and most are not very complicated to make. We love them even though we aren't even on the South Beach Diet! I've blogged about Kalyn's Swiss Chard and Mushroom Squares and Mushroom, Green Pepper, and Feta Breakfast Casserole already. And I have no doubt there will be many more in the future!

Luckily I took time to visit Kalyn's blog before heading to the store because once I saw Kalyn's Taco Salad recipe, I would have had to turn right around and go back. The pictures had me drooling, even though it was still breakfast time. I couldn't think of anything else while I was running my errands. I'd intended to make it for dinner tonight but by the time I finally got home, I couldn't wait. I ended up making it for lunch. LOL!

Kalyn's version uses ground beef but I used some leftover chicken, seasoned with the same spices and it was wonderful. A quick and easy recipe that is definitely going to show up around here on a regular basis!


Kalyn's Taco Salad
http://kalynskitchen.blogspot.com/2008/03/sometimes-all-you-need-is-perfect.html

(Makes enough meat/bean mixture for 4-5 salads. I recommend doubling the amount of meat/beans and freezing it so you can have taco salads in your future!)

For meat/bean mixture:
1 lb. low fat ground beef (less than 10% fat)
1/2 tsp. Spike Seasoning
1 tsp. olive oil (to saute ground beef, use more or less oil depending on your pan)
1 can black beans (can use kidney beans or small red beans)
1 T chile powder (New Mexico chile powder preferred, this is a very mild ground red chile powder)
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. ground Chipotle chile powder (or use any other type of hot chile powder or chili sauce)

For each salad:
3 cups romaine lettuce, torn, washed, and spun dry
3 T ranch dressing (I make the dressing from Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix that's combined with buttermilk and mayo)
3/4 cup meat/bean mixture (or more)
1 cup diced tomatoes or cherry tomatoes (if using large tomatoes, drain them in a colander after chopping)
1/4 cup grated cheese (I use low-fat four cheese Mexican blend)

Dump can of black beans into a colander in the sink, then rinse with cold water until no more foam appears. (This removes some of the undigestible carbohydrates that can make beans hard to digest.) Let drain while you cook meat.

Heat olive oil in large heavy frying pan, then add ground beef, breaking apart with your fingers. Cook beef over medium high heat until well browned, breaking apart with metal turner as it cooks. When beef is browned, add beans, chile powder, cumin, Chipotle chile powder, and water and simmer until nearly all water is evaporated. Let cool slightly before using on salad. (This can be made ahead and frozen. To use after freezing, thaw and then reheat for a couple of minutes in a microwave.)

To assemble salad, put lettuce in large plastic bowl and toss with desired amount of dressing. Add slightly warm beef/bean mixture and diced tomatoes and gently toss. Arrange on serving plate and sprinkle with grated cheese.