Taco Salad Tuesday!!!

I know it sounds like I'm way too excited for taco salad as I used three exclamation points in the title. 

If you didn't see my post from yesterday, I'll sum it up for you in a few words:  I don't like to cook. 

Some days I despise cooking, however when it's done and the family is pumped to hear "Raspberry Chicken" night, I cannot surrender to take out.  It makes it worth it!

The other reason I cook is of course because garbage in equals garbage out.  I haven't been making too many salads lately and my daughter came home from school and made her own salad ... that's huge for her!  So I realize they do crave some good stuff after all.

Ok, so I started last night with my famous raspberry chicken.  I will post that another night (although it is up a few times on the blog from other posts).  But tonight I took out an old Cooking Light cookbook and tweaked a recipe that was so easy and reminded me of a burrito bowl at Chipotle.  It's versatile enough for my picky family and can easily use leftover chicken instead of beef.

Taco Salad

Best to assemble ingredients ahead of time and then just throw all together.  Add or delete what ingredients your family might like.  I put some guacamole on the side, didn't have tomatoes, and put the beans in a separate bowl so my kids didn't complain.  Next time I think I'll add some shredded carrots just for some added color or add some sweet bell peppers to the mix.

1 pound of ground sirloin (grass fed if possible)
1 taco seasoning package
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup salsa
8 cups shredded lettuce (I chose organic prewashed romaine)
4 cups of broken tortilla chips
2 cups fresh tomatoes, drained
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided
1 (15 oz) can of kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup sliced ripe olives

1. Cook beef in a large skillet over medium-high heat until browned, stirring to crumble.  Stir in taco seasoning and water.  Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Combine sour cream and salsa in a small bowl.
3. Combine beef mixture, lettuce, tortilla chips, tomatoes, 1/2 cup cheese, and beans in a large bowl.  Drizzle sour cream mixture over the salad and toss gently.  Sprinkle the rest of the cheese and top with olives.  Serve immediately.

Makes about 8 servings that are 2 cups each.

 Tossed Taco Salad ... minus beans and tomatoes!

Oh, and those 3 exclamation points up there in the title?  When I was in college, the dining hall at James Madison University had taco salad on Thursdays.  It was the best day of the week in our opinion!

Hope this inspires some of you to make dinner tomorrow night ... so easy and everyone was happy. Just make up your mind for dinner to be an investment in your family :)

Happy Eating,
Krista