Thursday, October 7, 2010

Some Like It Tangy

I LOVE taco salad. And if there’s anybody that loves it more than me, it’s Mr. Spouse. I promise he asks for it EVERY single week. Well, I usually don’t comply with his requests because I don’t want to get tired of eating/cooking the same thing ALL the time, but I really do get a little excited when I put it in the plans. We usually eat our taco salad with corn, avocado, taco meat, crushed tortilla chips, and Italian dressing. Adam about FELL.OUT when we were first married and I suggested using Italian. He grew up eating taco salad with Ranch dressing instead of Italian & Dorito’s instead of tortilla chips. Not gonna lie…it’s pretty dang good that way, too! But when I whipped up this tangy version of the regular taco salad I serve, I knew that this would be making MANY more appearances on our taco salad nights! Now I won’t feel so guilty when I see this yummy dish on the menu ;)

TANGY FIESTA SALAD

Romaine lettuce

2 tomatoes, chopped

green onions, chopped

1 {10 oz.} bag of frozen corn, thawed

1 lb. ground beef

Taco seasoning {I used McCormick’s}

Tortilla chips, crushed {I used Santita’s}

Shredded Mexican cheese

Thousand Island dressing

Brown beef and drain. Return to pan and add {thawed} corn and taco seasoning. Mix well and cook until blended.

tangyfiestasalad

Chop romaine and place on a large plate. Y’all…this makes a SERIOUSLY large salad, so chop what you think you’ll eat :) I should’ve bought a pre-chopped bag of romaine, but the grocery store was out so I bought the whole bunch instead…and we used the whole thing! No wonder it was so dang LARGE! HA!

tangyfiestasalad2

Remove corn & beef mix from heat and spread evenly over the romaine.

tangyfiestasalad3

Top with tomatoes, green onion, and crushed tortilla chips. I think I might even add black beans to the mix next time!

tangyfiestasalad4

The secret to this salad is the dressing. When I found this recipe, I had to call Mr. Spouse to ask him if Thousand Island was a good dressing. He was all, “Uh…yeah. Have you been living under a rock or what?” Yep…that’s where I’ve been. I’ve never had it before!

tangyfiestasalad5

Dang if I didn’t seriously LOVE the dressing/salad combo! It was SO TANGY! And DElicious!!! I even went back for seconds…and I promise my servings were VERY generous. I had to switch to the sweatpants after I ate if that tells ya anything.

tangyfiestasalad6

I absolutely love, love, LOVE this variation on our typical taco salad. I’m usually an iceberg lettuce kinda girl because it’s cheap, but I’m gonna have to splurge for the romaine from now on because it was so much tastier with everything else :) SUCH a tangy, tasty salad that’s sure to see the T.V. trays dinner table again SOON!!!

Now…tell me…how do you fix YOUR taco salad?

11 comments:

  1. OOOOOO Cara, I love love love this! I agree with your hubby...you have definitely been under a roack with the salad dressing. I can never eat my pizza without a side of thousand island for dipping...don't knock it til you've tried it soooo delish! Thanks for this dish I will be making it soon!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oooooh, another recipe to add to my ever expanding book. I swear, I should make a new recipe book and call it "Recipe's I Stole From Cara". Thanks for sharing!

    Ryan Dabadie
    www.thedabadiediaries.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. This looks yummy, but I'm glad to find another Italian-dressing-on-their-taco-salad-person! I always add pinto beans and cilantro too. Love your blog!

    ReplyDelete
  4. ok, I'm confused. At the top you mention italian dressing but then you use 1000 island. Do you use italian anywhere or did I miss it?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous...you didn't miss anything :) I just talk A LOT! HA! I typically eat my taco salads with Italian dressing, but THIS salad I made with thousand island...and LOVED IT!! That's what makes it tangy!! Hope you enjoy!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love this version from my sister...a big hit in our house!
    1 bag Ready Pac Romaine lettuce -easy!
    1# ground beef
    1 packet taco seasoning (I use Lawrys)
    1 c. shredded sharp cheddar
    1 can medium-size pitted black olives
    3-4 Roma tomatoes-cut in bite-size portions and blot dry
    4 green onions-diced
    2 handfuls salt-free tortilla chips
    1-2 avocados-diced
    Kraft fat free Catalina dressing

    Directions:
    1. Cook meat with taco seasoning. Cool.
    2. Combine all ingredients
    4. Add dressing...I use about 1/3 bottle

    Too tasty!!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I never thought of using Thousand Island dressing! When my mom made it she used to mix in generous amounts of Catalina dressing...which I do not like. I'm not the biggest fan if TI either but I like it better than Catalina. Maybe if I spiced it up-but when I made it for myself I just used hot or medium instead of mild salsa just give it kick and serve with sour cream on top.

    ReplyDelete
  8. We make dressing for Mexican with green salsa mixed with sour cream. Now, I'm a green salsa FOOL, so I'm not a good judge here ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  9. We add Kidney beans and Nacho flavor doritos and catalina dressing. Its the bees knees I tell ya!

    ReplyDelete
  10. You know what else makes a good Mexican dressing? Green sauce and sour cream ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  11. I can not believe what I am reading! I worked at an El Chico restaurant right out of high school (uh, a long long time ago) and I adored their taco salads but ONLY with Thousand Island dressing on it, period! My Mom gave me her recipe for Thousand Island and now I can not make your recipe fast enough Ü

    ReplyDelete