Taco Salad

A long time ago, a cafeteria opened across the street from my workplace.

The only food item that I remember was taco salad.  That was the first time I had ever had a taco salad.

I rarely eat in restaurants, though given the opportunity I would have taco salad.

As long as I have lettuce, tortilla chips, and ground meat available I have taco salad.

I love taco salad.

The last time I made taco salad dear hubby didn't like the meat.  He said it did not taste like Taco Bell.

This is a copycat recipe for Taco Bell Seasoning:

Ingredients

   1 tablespoon dried onion flakes

   1 teaspoon all-purpose flour

   1 teaspoon beef bouillon granules

   1 teaspoon garlic salt

   1 teaspoon ground cumin

   1 teaspoon paprika

   1 teaspoon chili powder

   ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

   ¼ teaspoon white sugar

Directions

   Whisk together onion flakes, flour, bouillon granules, garlic salt, cumin, paprika, chili powder, cayenne pepper, and sugar in a bowl.

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/236257/taco-bell-seasoning-copycat/

This sounds DELIGHTFUL. I haven't had a taco salad in about 100 years, don't live in a place where we have that sort of thing (Taco Bell just opened here, and all i'll say is that they don't provide hot sauce [!!!] or serve any of the things i'd normally order in the US...), but I have a bag of frozen tortilla chips for frying and now i have an idea for dinner. Thanks Anne!!!

I'm a bigger fella, and that is partially the fault of being raised by big cooks who were not afraid of 'flavor'.  (Flavor being butter, it is always butter)

"Never trust a skinny chef!" - Family Friend

If I have it, I like to do a 50/50 split of ground beef and chorizo. This is partially because the last steer I purchased was a Blonde d'Aquitaine who are a leaner breed. Excellent meat but the grease from the chorizo gives it the right amount of oil and extra flavor.

If you can get your hands on some some Cotija cheese, you can bring up that taco salad game. It crumbles real easy and stores well in a fridge.

I like a bit of cumin in my taco seasoning, okay I like a lot of cumin. If you have a mortar and pestle, fresh ground cumin is a nice touch.

Man, I'm getting hungry now!

Timothy Norton wrote:I like a bit of cumin in my taco seasoning, okay I like a lot of cumin. If you have a mortar and pestle, fresh ground cumin is a nice touch.

Cumin is the best spice. As time goes on, I grind it less and less. I love whole cumin seeds in my taco seasoning as long as they're going into something wet (fat and water both seem to work) for long enough to soften a bit. Then when they're bit into, they provide a juicy pop of cuminy goodness.

When I first got married my wife used to ask what I wanted for dinner. She made me so much taco salad that it got banned from our house for years. Happy to report though that it is making a comeback!

Tereza Okava wrote:This sounds DELIGHTFUL. I haven't had a taco salad in about 100 years, don't live in a place where we have that sort of thing (Taco Bell just opened here, and all i'll say is that they don't provide hot sauce [!!!] or serve any of the things i'd normally order in the US...), but I have a bag of frozen tortilla chips for frying and now i have an idea for dinner. Thanks Anne!!!

Tereza, do you think if I put a bag of chips in the freezer I could use them without frying?

Due to some dental issues, I have a bag of chips that the best buy date was a year ago.

I opened an older bag and they were good for a few days, then went rancid.  Do you think I can open the bag take out a few if they smell okay then close the bag really good and stick it in the freezer until I want taco salad sometime in the future?

eep, rancid i think is one of these no-return things, but i'm also a big fan of experimentation.... if it's still rancid, i think you'll know immediately, there's only one way to find out!

my chips are in the freezer because the only way i can get corn chips or tortillas is raw, from a factory that makes them and sells them to the two local restaurants here, to be fried when needed. so mine are not actually cooked-- they are the raw masa that is rolled and then i cook them when i want them. In this case i will probably throw a bunch of them in the air fryer. Not great for snacking, but not deep fried (which i save for very special occasions) and good enough for salad with some nice homemade pico de gallo......

I made taco salad again today.

I changed the recipe a little:

1 Tablespoon onion flakes
1/2 tablespoon garlic
1 bouillon cube
2 teaspoon Chili Powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon paprika

It turned out just as good.