Eat Your Bowl....Taco Salad

I've made taco salad a couple of times before, but I forgot to blog it. So the third time, I did some more experimenting, and this is my favorite so far. It's such an easy & quick meal that is also great for the summer time. I got the original idea for the tortillas from Chelley, a fellow WC'er. The idea to add the rice came from one of my favorite cooking sites Cooking Light. Then I played around with all of those ideas, and came up with the following. You could also use the filling to make burritos, tacos or nachos, which I probably will do with the leftovers.

Eat Your Bowl Taco Salad

(the recipe makes too much for two servings, but I plan on using the leftovers)

1 lb ground beef

low carb large flour tortillas

2 coves garlic, minced

2 roma tomatoes, diced

1 can of black beans

handful of shredded or torn lettuce

1/2 cup yellow onion, diced (or green onion would be great sprinkled on top of salad)

2% Mexican cheese blend

1/2 -3/4 cup cooked brown rice (yellow or Mexican rice would have been great, but I didn't have any on hand)
1 tsp cumin

juice and zest of half a lime

Preheat the oven to 425. Brown ground beef, drain and add minced garlic, seasonings & water, recipe below. Add diced onions and black beans to meat mixture. Simmer till slightly thickened. (I kept rice separate since Jamie didn't want any, if not, you could add it to meat mixture)

Brush tortillas with some vegetable oil or use non-stick spray, and bake on balls of tin foil or inverted ramekins on a baking sheet for about 6 minutes, till slightly browned and crispy.

Add the lime juice, zest and cumin to the cooked rice.

Toss the meat and rice mixture, or just layer into the bowls, add the dressing, and top with tomatoes, lettuce, extra onions if desired, and cheese.

Taco Seasoning:

1 tsp cilantro (I only had dried on hand)

1/2 tsp oregano

1/8 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

2 tsp cumin

2-3 tbsp Mexican chili powder

Mix above ingredients together in a bowl, and add 2 tbsp or more if desired, to browned ground beef and add 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp of water, and simmer till slightly thickened.

Dressing:
2/3 cup fat free sour cream

2/3 cup fresh medium salsa

1/2 tbsp of taco seasoning

Mix above ingredients, and toss in or put on top of taco salad.