Taco Salad

I got the idea for this from Kalyn's Kitchen and I only changed it a bit here and there. As usual I used turkey meat instead of beef but I found you really can't taste the difference with all the seasonings in there. I also use a light cheese and of course a light ranch dressing but I put out regular ranch for the rest of the family. When I can find them I get the low sodium black beans to help with the sodium content because the taco seasoning tends to have a lot of salt.

I find this tastes best when the meat is still a bit warm (not hot) and the lettuce is cold and crisp. Perfect for those hot summer days but also good on cooler cloudy days like today. This is also a great way to stretch your meat by adding more of the salad fixings which helps your budget :)

TACO SALAD

=== meat/bean mixture ===
1 lb. lean ground beef or turkey
1 tablespoon taco seasoning
1 tablespoon oil
1 can black beans
1 T chile powder
1 tsp. ground cumin

=== for salad ===
3 cups romaine lettuce, torn, washed
ranch dressing
1 cup diced tomatoes
1 cup grated low fat cheese
1 cup diced onion

Dump the can of black beans into a colander in the sink, then rinse with cold water until no more foam appears. (This removes some of the undigestible carbohydrates that can make beans hard to digest.) Let drain while you cook meat.

Heat olive oil in large heavy frying pan, then add ground meat, breaking apart into small crumbles. Cook meat over medium high heat until well browned. When meat is browned, add beans, and seasonings and simmer for about 10 minutes. Let cool slightly before using on salad. (This can be made ahead and frozen. To use after freezing, thaw and then reheat for a couple of minutes in a microwave.)

To assemble salad, put lettuce in large plastic bowl and toss with desired amount of dressing. For each salad bowl add some of the lettuce mixture, add slightly warm beef/bean mixture and top with diced tomatoes, diced onions and grated cheese. Toss and eat!