Mom’s Taco Salad
If you’ve ever been to a party at my mom’s house, or perhaps a neighborhood potluck, you’ve probably had this taco salad. It’s a simple salad- ground beef, chickpeas, a sweet, tangy dressing, and crumbled nacho chips on top.
I love this salad, but the dressing is so sweet and syrupy, the original recipe includes a few sketchy ingredients (I’m looking at you, canola oil), and I can no longer eat the nacho chips. So I decided to give it a make-over. It’s got less sugar, grain free chips, and a lot of flavor.
A few notes: You can use any ground meat you like. Chickpeas could certainly be replaced with another bean, or left out, if they don’t agree with you. I will have to make this without onions when I take it to my brother’s house, so that’s an option for you as well. I found a gorgeous lettuce mix for this blog, which photographs amazingly - but feel free to use any lettuce, including iceberg. Finally, I did use a local cheddar, and grated it myself- it’s got way more flavor than the pre-shredded bagged ones. I hope you enjoy this remake as much as I do!
Mom’s Taco Salad
Serves approximately 6-8.
Ingredients:
1 Tbl Olive Oil
1 Large Onion, Diced
2 lb Ground Meat (Beef, Turkey, or Chicken)
Salt & Pepper
1 15.5 oz Can Chickpeas, Drained
24 oz Cherry Tomatoes, Halved
4-5 oz Clamshell of Lettuce/Spring Mix, or 2 Heads of Romaine, Diced
4 oz Cheddar Cheese, Shredded
4 oz Bag Siete Nacho Tortilla Chips
Dressing:
1/2 C Primal Kitchen Unsweetened Spicy Ketchup
1 Tbl Chilli Powder
1/4 C Honey
1/2 C Olive or Avocado Oil
1/4 C Apple Cider Vinegar
Directions:
Heat olive oil in a large skillet, and cook Onion until soft. Add in the Ground Meat, Salt and Pepper & cook through. Drain any fat from the Meat, and combine with Chickpeas in a large bowl.
In a small bowl, whisk together Ketchup, Chili Powder, Honey, Oil, and Apple Cider Vinegar for Dressing. Set aside.
To serve, combine Lettuce, Tomatoes, Meat & Bean Mixture with Dressing. Top with Cheese and Crushed Nacho Chips. Alternately, you may mix the Dressing, Meat & BEans, and let guests create their own salad with toppings provided.
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