- Makes: 8-10 Servings
- Ready In: 30 mins
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
This salad is full of super healthy ingredients. It is an upside-down version of the traditional. Use chopped romaine and cilantro as the base, not a pile of chips. This saves you hundreds of nutrient-sparse calories in exchange for nutrient packed herbs and greens. Making your own taco seasoning is super easy, reduces your exposure to preservatives, and is much more cost-effective than buying the mix.
As far as the health benefits, did you know that cilantro is a natural way to detoxify the body from heavy metals (found in many species of fish and packaged foods)? Cilantro is also high is iron, magnesium, and many phytonutrients. Tomatoes provide lycopene and vitamin C, a natural immunity booster. When possible, please source organic corn chips to reduce your exposure to genetically modified corn.
- Calories: 379
- Fat: 18g
- Protein: 16g
- Sodium: 779mg
- Carbohydrates: 37g
- Fiber: 6g
- Sugar: 9g
Nutritional Information (per serving)
Ingredients:
- For the salad:
Romaine lettuce, about 8 cups chopped or two 9-ounce bags
Cherry or grape tomatoes, 1 pint, halved
Red onion, 1 small
Fresh or frozen corn kernels, 1 cup
Grass fed ground beef, 1 pound
Monterey Jack cheese, 1 cup, shredded
Cilantro, 1 bunch, about 1 cup
Organic tortilla chips, about 1 cup crushed
Extra virgin olive oil, 1 tbsp
For the dressing:
Salsa, ¼ cup
Sour cream, ¼ cup
Mayonnaise, 1 tbsp
Cumin, 1 tsp ground
Dried basil, ½ tsp
Chili powder, ½ tsp
Lime juice, from ½ a lime
For the taco seasoning:
Cumin, ¼ cup, ground
Chili powder, 1 tsp
Garlic powder, 2 tsp
Sea salt, 1/2 tsp
Directions:
- Slice and dice:
- Chop red onion, cilantro (leaves and tender stems only), and romaine lettuce. Halve cherry tomatoes.
- Whisk together all ingredients listed under “for the dressing”.
- Heat a medium or large skillet over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes.
- Add 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil and heat an additional 30 seconds, until oil shimmers.
- Set aside 1 tbsp diced red onion for garnish. Add remaining onion and corn kernels to skillet. Saute for about 1 minute, just to allow onions to “sweat”.
- Add ground beef and all ingredients listed under “for the taco seasoning”.
- Brown beef, corn, onion, and spices for about 5 minutes, until cooked through. Turn off heat.
- Toss chopped romaine and cilantro with creamy cumin-lime dressing. Divide equally among plates.
- To each plate, add ¼ of the meat mixture, ½ cup halved cherry or grape tomatoes, and ¼ cup shredded Monterey jack cheese.
- Garnish with a sprinkling of crushed tortilla chips and reserved red onion.
- Cooking the beef with corn and onion bulks it up, which definitely helps stretch a dollar. It also makes you feel as though you are getting a larger portion of beef!
- Is your toddler anti-lettuce? So is mine. I substituted half an avocado for the lettuce.
- If you're taking this to a potluck, serve the tortilla chips on the side so they don't get mushy before everyone digs in.
