Tuesday, September 8, 2009

RECIPE: Taco Salad with Spicy Avocado Dressing

Mom gave me an avocado a few days ago, so last night I decided that I needed to figure out how to use it. I thought Mexican, of course, and then decided maybe I would make a taco salad with avocado. I Googled this, and I found a great recipe on Life's Ambrosia. It includes an avocado dressing and kidney beans and ground turkey. Yum!

Taco Salad with Spicy Avocado Dressing

Adapted from Life's Ambrosia

Dressing:

* 1 large avocado, pitted, skin removed
* 2 tablespoons minced red onion
* 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
* 1/4 cup mayonnaise
* 1/4 cup sour cream
* juice of 1/2 lime
* 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
* 1 jalapeno, chopped ( had a pretty large jalapeno, so I only did half)
* 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
* salt to taste

Salad:


* 1/2 pound ground turkey
* 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
* 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
* 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
* salt to taste
* 2 corn tortillas cut into strips (I just used packaged tortilla chips, broken up)
* oil for frying
* 1 head green leaf lettuce, washed and chopped (I used bagged romaine)
* 2 tomatoes, seeded and diced
* 1/2 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, drained
* 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
* 2 green onions, chopped

1. Combine dressing ingredients in a food processor.


Process until smooth. Cover and chill for 30 minutes to 1 hour.


2. In a skillet brown ground turkey. Season with chili powder, cumin, garlic powder and salt to taste. I chose to toss the beans in with the seasonings.


3. If making your own tortilla strips, heat 1/2 inch of oil in a saucepan. Once hot, fry tortilla strips until golden brown. About 3-5 minutes. Transfer to paper towel lined plate. Sprinkle with salt and set aside.

4. Depending on how much dressing you like, spoon about 1/3 to 1/2 of the dressing in the bottom of a large salad bowl. Add lettuce, meat and beans, and tomatoes.


Toss to coat. Top with tortilla strips, cheddar cheese and green onions. Serve.


Awwww, this was good! Next time I might use more ground turkey though. But the dressing is awesome! Mine wasn't so much "spicy", probably because I only used half of a jalapeno, but it has a little tang from the vinegar and lime juice. Very good! It also makes a good dip for the tortilla chips.

So tonight I was starving when I got home, since I skipped lunch today. I still had avocado dressing leftover from last night, as well as cheese and a half can of kidney beans. I decided to make bean burritos for dinner and serve them with chips and avocado dressing. It was really simple. It went something like this:

Bean Burritos

1 can of refried beans
1/2 can of kidney beans (optional)
4 large garlic cloves, minced
1/4-1/2 tsp ground chipotle pepper (adjust to taste for heat)
1 tbs fresh lime juice
1/4 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground chili powder

1. Put all ingredients in food processor, and process until well-mixed (it doesn't matter whether some of the beans are unprocessed).


2. Spoon bean mixture into flour tortillas and top with cheese.


3. Roll up burritos and place on cookie sheet. Bake in pre-heated oven for 6-8 minutes. Serve with salsa. (I served mine with leftover avocado dressing and chips.)


That avocado dressing is a definite keeper. I highly recommend it!

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