Healthy Taco Salad
One of the staple dinners that we’ve enjoyed since…forever…has been tacos. We love our own blend of seasoning, I took pride in my homemade tortilla shells, and even made my own salsa on occasion.So when my husband went gluten-free last year it really knocked me off my game! I mean, how were you supposed to eat tacos without fabulous, soft, whole wheat shells?
I tried making my own soft corn shells and they never quite worked out well.
I tried buying soft corn shells to cook at home – I could never find organic and the GMO issue bothered me.
We bought hard corn shells – organic, non- GMO are expensive while non-organic have colorings and fillers.
I’ve mentioned it a few times now in passing, but a couple of months ago we decided to go completely (ok, about 80-90%) grain free, and I have to say it’s really what helped us get ‘past the bun’ if you wish. Taking any bread alternatives out of the equation really opened us up to trying new things and eating our foods differently. In that respect I feel we are getting a much more nutrient dense diet and eating a larger variety of foods.
Take our tacos for instance. We don’t do without them…..we just changed them.
Good quality meat on top of chopped garden tomatoes, farmers market onion, lettuce, and cheese. The avocado aioli dressing also pairs with this nicely, as does ranch, a homemade spicy dressing, salsa, and sour cream. I love that I’m able to get a good amount of lettuce and greens into my family now instead of it being the sparse topping on a taco, and I also love the convenience of it. No longer do I have to spend and hour or so making the shells or making sure I get them at the grocery store. Dinner now takes moments compared to a few months ago!
- 1 pound ground meat
- 1-2 tbsp taco seasoning (based on your taste preferences)
- 1 head lettuce, or mixture of lettuce greens
- cheese, onion, tomato, avocado, or any other favorite "taco toppings"
- avocado dressing, ranch, salsa or sour cream for topping.
- Brown meat and season to taste.
- Cut up lettuce, onion, and tomatoes. Shred cheese.
- Place two to four cups of lettuce and salad greens in a large bowl and top with ground beef, shredded cheese, and any other toppings you like!
Donielle Baker
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Beautiful taco salad, Donielle! One of my faves. We often have it here at work for luncheons with my friend’s homemade tortilla chips. So good!
I linked up a family favorite of zesty pork chops. You can grill or bake them. Delicious.
Thanks for hosting!
Shirley
When we were grain-free, I used to add black beans to my taco salad (in addition to grass-fed beef and lettuce, tomatoes, etc.) At our house, “tacos” means “taco salad.” Organic corn chips are cheaper than shells, so we do those often times too. But we have a few chips with our lettuce and meat, so it’s a pretty low-grain meal. It’s a favorite here too!
Oh, and the link I submitted is actually a list of junk foods I LOVE and most of them have links to recipes I’ve made over. Kombucha, fries, and a couple others.
This looks so good! We still eat grains, but really do things like this more often now! Love these taco salads!
Looks a lot like the taco salads I make for my family! They are sooooo yummy. 🙂
Another thing I really like about the ease of this dish is it fits right in with my freezer meal planning. I brown up, divide, and freeze 2lbs of ground beef with taco seasoning. And voila! I’ve got 4 dinner’s worth of meat that I just reheat as needed and toss on salad greens with all the other wonderful “taco” fixings. 😀
We love taco salads and eat them frequently but I think next time I will have to try it with your avocado aioli dressing. It sounds wonderful. Thanks for sharing and for hosting.
I used to buy organic corn tortillas by the case from the co-op we ordered from each month. I’m sure soft corn tortillas are still available, and they’re delish. We would just nuke em {yes, :0 } becuz we were sooo PC…that is, as low fat as possible and as vegan as possible . Anyhoo, now u could heat them in lard on the stove as the traditional mexicans (we had a true mexican lady teach my mom in the 60s how to do this LOL) and pile them up with carne and ensalada. The kids and I used to eat em hot with redhot too, just roll em up. Buttered if I was feeling esp. naughty LOL
oh em gee, tacos with corn tortillas—YUM
I gotta find some corn tortillas now…