The New Taco Salad

for Ashley

I've made taco salad for years.
I use like 8 serving dishes:
One for tortilla chips
One for lettuce
One for tomatoes
One for cheese
One for sour cream
One for a ground beef, onion and bean mixture seasoned with taco seasoning
And maybe a couple for some corn, avocado, peppers or salsa

This can be pretty yummy BUT... all too often I find all my kids fill their plates with tortilla chips and cheese (except Jarom who doesn't like cheese).  The older ones load up on ground beef.  And then finally one piece of lettuce and one lone chunk of tomato are placed on top (and are often not eaten).  Then after they clear their plates they continue snacking on tortilla chips.

Well, I decided there must be a better way.  I wanted to put the SALAD back in taco salad.  So I grabbed my big salad bowl (the one Fairbanks gave me as a wedding present that literally has collected dust for years on display above my cabinets) and put it to use!
I filled it with not one but two heads of romaine lettuce.  (I've even done three) and topped it up with a LOT of tomatoes.

Starting to look pretty already, isn't it?

Next, I went to the stove and put some onions and garlic in the skillet to fry.  Then I added two cans of black beans. (I have also used kidney beans, chick peas and I'm sure pinto beans would be lovely).  Then I dumped on some chili powder and cumin to taste and mixed it in.

While working on that, I put Dustin to work cutting up a couple bell peppers. I had to decide if I wanted to quickly add them to the skillet or just add them fresh to the salad.  I prefer fresh, so I refrained from throwing them in.  But you might choose to throw them in and that's okay.

Then I grabbed a can of corn and warmed it up, too.  I like the corn to be bright and yellow (ie not covered in black bean juice), so I warmed it up in the microwave instead of the skillet.  But I also would not judge someone too harshly who just wanted to throw the corn in the skillet too.  But keep in mind that this is the ingredient that is on the very top of the salad... so the prettier it looks, the prettier the whole meal will look and the more likely your crew is to crave it.

Then it was time for assembly and the magic really happened.  I grabbed the bell peppers mentioned before and a bunch of chopped up cilantro (which is a highly critical ingredient) and mixed them into the lettuce.

you really should have a lot more cilantro than this,
but I'm just showing off how nicely ours is growing on our window sill

Then I dumped my beans and onions on top of the huge pile of greens.  Next, I dumped my corn on top of that.  And last of all, I took some limes, quartered them and put them on the side of the salad for my family to squeeze on top.  If you don't have limes (like when I actually took these pictures) just drizzle lime juice over the whole salad.  The lime juice adds such a great little zing to the whole thing and makes for a great guilt-free dressing.

Isn't she beautiful?

I was AMAZED at how quickly everyone gobbled this up.  Seriously!  I have never had two heads of romaine lettuce vanish in one sitting like that.  I really think all the colors just make it look so appetizing that they couldn't help but want to eat it before they'd even taken a bite. (And all the obviously healthy stuff like lettuce and tomato are hiding deceitfully at the bottom).

A Word of Warning:  Do NOT point out to your kids that they are NOT eating tortilla chips OR cheese OR even ground beef.  They won't even notice if you don't tell them.  If you DO tell them, you might have to add another bowl to the side.

Enjoy!