Taco Salad

Toni in Colorado's Note:

I've been going through my old cookbooks and found this had not been included in my personal cookbook. I think it's different than most taco salads in that it uses a creamed Velveeta cheese and tomatoes with chilies as the dressing instead of the typical French Dressing. Of course, I used Ro-Tel with the cheese and had some left over as a dip for tortilla chips. I also added some pineapple tidbits and sour cream. This is from The Officers Wives Cookbook printed in 1970, submitted by Mrs. James England, England AFB, Louisiana. (I do not know if this is a coincidence with the name or if it was a typo!) I am posting the recipe as it was printed in the OWC printing. As usual, I'm estimating the time to make this!

• Total Time: 20 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 0 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 1 1/2 lbs ground beef
• 1 1/2 cups onions, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, diced
• salt, to taste
• chili powder, to taste
• cumin, to taste
• 1 lb Velveeta cheese
• 10 3/4 ounces tomatoes and green chilies (I used Ro-Tel.)
• 1 head lettuce, large, coarsely chopped
• 2 tomatoes, large, firm and ripe, diced
• 1 (11 ounce) package corn chips (I used white corn tortilla chips.)

Directions:

1. Brown beef in small amount of fat. Saute onions and garlic until soft but not brown; add to beef. Simmer for several minutes. Season with salt, chili powder and cumin. Melt cheese in double boiler; add tomatoes. Place lettuce and tomatoes in a large salad bowl; add beef mixture. Mix lightly; top with hot cheese mixture. Sprinkle with corn chips; serve immediately.