Taco Salad by Better Homes and Gardens

Mmm, taco salad!

We have taco salad regularly. Usually we simply do the brown-ground-beef-add-taco-seasoning-and-water-cook-water-down method stated on the back of taco mix packages, then assemble a salad including the beef.

This time, we were steppin' out in Taco Salad Style per BHG. Click the link for the real way to go, which includes how to make tortilla bowls. Otherwise, you'll be doin' what I did:

1 lb. ground beef

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 15-oz can dark red kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1 8-oz jar taco sauce

3/4 c frozen whole kernel corn

6 c chopped iceburg and romaine lettuces

2 Roma tomatoes, diced

1/2 c thinly sliced green onions

1 avocado, pitted, peeled and chopped

1 14-oz can small black olives

3/4 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese
A bunch of tortilla chips

In a medium saucepan cook ground beef and garlic until beef is brown.


Drain off fat. Stir in kidney beans, taco sauce, and corn. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare lettuces, tomatoes, green onions, cheese, avocado, olives, and dump some chips in a bowl.

Serve a la carte.

Rodney's first question after assembling his salad was, "Should I use dressing?" I told him the dressing was essentially in the meat, so he proceeded without question.

I thought the dressing was a little bit too sweet. I usually use salsa for dressing on taco salad and in comparison to salsa, the taco sauce was very sweet and a little bit on the too-plentiful side even though the meat was doubled from the original recipe.

Neither of us thought this would be a no-go in the future, yet neither of us were chomping at the bit for me to replicate this exactly. I'll probably cut the taco sauce by 4 oz. in the future. It will reduce the likelihood of my saying "ooh this is too wet and sweet", while affording Rodney the opportunity to drown his salad in Catalina like he typically prefers.

Cost:

• ground beef = $2.99
• kidney beans = $0.79
• taco sauce = $0.99
• leaf, iceberg lettuce = $0.99
• tomatoes = $1
• green onions= $0.39
• avocado = $1

This meal cost us $8.15 for items we had to buy. If I were to include items previously purchased and "in the pantry", it'd probably be $10.15. Regardless it gave three servings, each between $2.72-3.38 a serving.

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