Food Musings

Crunchy and creamy with delicious Mexican flavors

Greg's Taco Salad

Years ago my husband Greg and I discovered that while we love each other very much, we don’t work well together in an office.  Greg had converted our large bonus room in the house to a functional office area with built in cabinets and desks.  It was perfect for both of us to work in…For about 5 minutes.   That’s all it took.  After 5 minutes of bickering about something computer related, we both decided that Greg would keep the new office for himself and I would take the original office downstairs.  That has worked well for us for 15 years. 

The good news is that while we didn’t work well together in an office environment, we are a real team in the kitchen.  I usually plan the meal, Greg preps, and I finish it.  He is the chopper and the griller.  I do the rest.  It’s a great way to have fun with your spouse and work on something together.  Since we both have clear responsibilities in the kitchen, there’s rarely a disagreement.  We work in harmony and have a great time preparing meals.

Greg does have two meals that he prepares on his own quite frequently for family and friends.  One is his popular Bolognese Sauce and the other is his delicious Taco Salad.  This is such a simple salad to prepare but it is absolutely scrumptious!  Crunchy and creamy with delicious flavors that you don’t always recognize.  One of the key ingredients is the Sweet Cherry Peppers which are a surprising blend of sweet and sour.  We serve the salad with various condiments and our favorite is a half and half mix of salsa and Thousand Island dressing…delicious!

To make this a weeknight meal, prepare the burger the night before.  Then you can quickly chop the remaining ingredients and serve a dinner that the entire family will enjoy.  The leftovers work well the next day for lunch but when we’re entertaining we rarely have leftovers of the popular salad!

Taco Salad

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 yellow onion chopped
• ½ TB cumin or to taste
• ½ TB salt
• 1 small head iceberg lettuce, chopped
• 1 cup chopped red peppers
• Sweet Cherry Peppers from 1  6 oz jar, chopped
• ½ red onion, chopped
• 1 can Pinquito Beans, drained
• 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
• Shredded Mexican mix cheese
• Thousand Island Dressing
• Salsa
• Corn Chips, crushed
• Avocado, chopped

Night before or earlier in the day:  Brown ground beef, breaking up.  Add chopped yellow onion and cook until onions are soft.  Add cumin and salt.  Let cool and refrigerate until cold.

In a large bowl, mix iceberg lettuce, red peppers, Sweet cherry peppers, red onion and beans in a large bowl.  Add ground beef mixture.

Mix Thousand Island Dressing half and half with Salsa in a small serving bowl.  Pour more salsa in another bowl, as well as corn chips and cheese mix in separate bowls.

Let guests serve themselves.