A Salad the Whole Family will Love - TACO!

TOMATOES! You may already have a few red, ripe beauties ready to harvest in your garden. In just a matter of a few sunny days, there may even be more than you can use. So it’s the perfect time to make tomatoes a featured salad ingredient. 

Now I can think of a good many ways to use tomatoes in a salad, but the first one that popped into my mind was Taco Salad because it’s quick to make, versatile, and my kids love it! What better combination could there be?

There are just about a million different ways to make Taco Salad. You could make it with meat or without. You could use beans, black olives, corn and onions. Dressings can be simple like sour cream, salsa, and guacamole.  There do seem to be a few key ingredients that most Taco Salads have including lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, and tortilla chips.

I did discover one recipe that has gotten rave reviews that uses Catalina dressing and Doritos! Your kids might think Mom’s gone off the deep end when they ask, “What’s for dinner?” and you say, “Doritos.” I know I won't be winning any Mother-of-the-Year award for smothering fresh, garden tomatoes with taco seasoning, Catalina dressing AND crushed Doritos, but if it gets my kid to eat tomatoes, I’ll get over it pretty quick.

Have you ever heard of this recipe?

Ingredients:

1 head lettuce, washed & drained well

1 (8 ounce) container grape tomatoes(I used one large garden tomato)

1 (12 ounce) bag Doritos

2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese

1 (8 ounce) bottle fat-free Catalina dressing

1/2 lb ground beef

taco seasoning

Directions:

Brown ground beef and drain. Add taco seasoning - follow package directions. Allow to cool slightly or put in refrigerator if you don't want to use the salad right away.

Tear lettuce into bite size pieces, put into a large bowl. Cut tomatoes in half, and spread out on top of lettuce. Put cheese on top of tomatoes. Cover and chill until ready to serve. Just before serving, add Doritos, meat (if refrigerated, use microwave to take chill off of meat), and salad dressing. Toss well!

Recommendations: When I made this salad I used ground turkey instead of ground beef. Next time I'll add black beans for additional texture and jalapeno peppers to counter act the sweetness of the Catalina dressing.