Good for You Taco Salad

Submitted by Maito

"Ingredient amounts are approximate. There are lots of optional ingredients, depending on what you like. Feel free to substitute an equal amount of bottled vinaigrette for the oil and vinegar. Thank you to FLKeysJen for putting this in her best of 2011 cookbook!"

 

• Ready In: 15mins
• Ingredients: 21
• Serves: 2

ingredients

• Dressing

• 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice (or more)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar or 1 tablespoon any other kind vinegar
• 1 pinch garlic powder
• 1 pinch ground cumin
• 2 tablespoons salsa
• 2 tablespoons nonfat yogurt (optional) or 2 tablespoons nonfat sour cream (optional)

• Salad

• 1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed (you can also use black or any other type of beans)
• 1⁄2 - 1 avocado, diced
• 2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1⁄2 cup cilantro, coarsely chopped
• 5 ounces romaine lettuce or 5 ounces butter lettuce
• 2 carrots, sliced
• baked corn tortilla chips

• Optional toppings

• very lean ground turkey, cooked with taco seasoning
• basil
• green onions or chives, chopped
• toasted pepitas
• black olives
• low-fat cheese, shredded
• jalapeno, seeded and minced

directions

1. Mix dressing ingredients.
2. Put all desired salad ingredients in a large glass bowl. Toss with dressing (you may not need all of it) and top with baked chips. Serve additional chips on the side.

Reviews

[Engrossed]

WOWEE! This salad is POPPING with FLAVOR! It really satisfied my craving for tacos which I can't have because I'm trying to eat healthier. I used white vinegar in the dressing and Pace mild chunky salsa...I didn't use the yogurt in it but served the salad with sour cream. I think the dressing is a new tangy FAVORITE! I used everything for the salad but omitted the chips. For optionals, I cooked ground turkey with taco seasoning, garlic salt, pepper and tabasco and I used sliced black olives, green onions, jack cheese and 2 percent cheddar. YUMMY! This is a KEEPER for sure! Made for the Went to the market game.

 

[Lavender Lynn]

Delayed this two days to buy kidney beans, then forgot to add them! They're important because beans and corn provide a complete protein and they add such a rich color! To preserve colors for the photo, I tossed the dressing with only the lettuce and cilantro and added the colorful toppings afterward; I'd suggest this for serving also. We may have compromised the "healthful" aspect a bit with taco-seasoned ground beef, but the salad was beautiful and delicious and the recipe very adaptable. Made as a prize for Top Favorites of 2009.

 

[Starrynews]

Great blend of flavors - the dressing really made this version pop! I used the nonfat sour cream in the dressing and added corn. Delicious! Thanks for sharing!

 

[Enjolinfam]

TERRIFIC! I would give this more than 5 stars if I could! I tripled the recipe. I made as directed though I used red and white beans, and added many optional toppings: basil, green onion, black olives, low-fat cheddar cheese, and some vegemeat with taco seasonings. We shared this with some friends from Venezuala who also enjoyed it. Thanks Maito! I will be making this again. Made for veg*n swap.

 

[AmandaInOz]

This was such a nice change from regular taco salad. I substituted light sour cream for the yogurt and added some taco seasoning to the dressing. The dish worked very well without any meat. Yummy! Thanks Maito!