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Prep Time: 40 Minutes Cook Time: 15 Minutes |
Ready In: 55 Minutes Servings: 12 |
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This taco salad is perfect for a potluck or a lovely summer meal! I constantly get requests to make this salad. Easily prepared ahead of time and tossed together at the last minute. I am not sure where the original idea came from for this recipe but it has truly 'morphed' into one of our family favorites. Absolutely versatile and forgiving should you be missing an ingredient or two...just use your imagination and substitute. The key ingredient is the sauce!!! It is crazy easy to make and tastes fantastic!! Way less costly than 'Catalina' dressing and a hundred times tastier. Sadly though I have not figured out how to make it diet friendly.. For a vegetarian version I use a variety of beans and omit the ground beef... equally as delicious. Prep time includes cooking the beef. Enjoy. Ingredients:
1 lb lean ground beef, fried and spiced and cooled |
1 1/4 ounces taco seasoning or 2 tablespoons home made taco seasoning |
1/4 cup water |
1 head lettuce, chopped (i like to use a romaine and iceburg mix) |
3 roma tomatoes, chopped (if not using roma you may want to seed the juicier variety of tomato) |
1 small red onion, chopped (optional) |
6 green onions, chopped |
1 cup sliced black olives (optional) |
1 (19 ounce) can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed |
1 (14 ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed (optional) |
2 cups old cheddar cheese, grated |
2 cups approx. tortilla chips, coarsely crumbled |
1 cup brown sugar, packed |
1 1/3 cups vegetable oil |
1 1/2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce |
2/3 cup white vinegar |
1/2 cup heinz ketchup |
Directions:
1. Fry ground beef in medium high skillet until lightly browned - (drain fat and rinse if necessary ).
2. Add taco seasoning to ground beef, continue cooking until browned nicely.
3. Add 1/4 Cup water and simmer to reduce liquid.
4. Set beef aside to cool completely.
5. Meanwhile:.
6. Place dressing ingredients into a tightly sealed jar - if not already prepared ahead of time and shake the bejeebies out of it! (About 2 - 3 minutes until smooth) Toss in fridge until ready to serve. ( this keeps a very long time too).
7. Layer into a large bowl - drained and rinsed beans, diced onions, diced tomatoes, chopped lettuce, grated cheese, cooled ground beef and crushed tortilla chips.
8. Pour dressing over layers just before serving and toss! Serve with more tortilla chips.
9. If preparing for a pot luck and it will be a while before serving I package the items separately in zip lock bags so they do not get soggy.
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