Meatless Taco Salad

I've been in a food funk here lately. With all the talk about pink slime, as well as other research into what is *really* in the food we absentmindedly buy at the grocery store, I've gotten to the point where I wish I was adept at mass gardening and animal farming so I could know exactly where my food is coming from.

I've been so disgusted by the pink slime reports lately that since last week, I've eaten NO meat at all. I've been in this daze, walking through the grocery store as well as driving down the road past all the fast food restaurants. Much of what I see is not an option in my head anymore, as disgusted as I am at the moment.

I don't plan to fast from meat indefinitely, but I do plan to cut red meat out of our diet now. We had already cut down significantly anyway on red meat, due to its strong link to colon cancer and heart disease. I figured we could get our protein elsewhere, you know? Ground turkey is a good substitute in most cases for ground beef, and recently we've been buying ground wild turkey from Whole Foods.

Anyway, with this has come more searching for tasty meatless recipes that we can live with. My big thing is trying not to sacrifice taste in eating healthier!

So, in this, I present you with a Meatless Taco Salad! We've decided to use some of the full fat products, particularly in dairy, to eat as little added crap as possible to the food. When fat comes out, something else (usually unnatural) goes in to preserve the taste. Ive decided that I'd rather have completely natural, even if that means more calories and fat.

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Ingredients

• 4 whole wheat tortillas (8 inches)
• 6 cups shredded romaine, or acceptable lettuce
• 1/2 cup no salt added canned pinto beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 small tomato, chopped
• 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped green onions
• 2 tablespoons sliced ripe olives, drained
• Sliced jalapeno peppers, optional
• DRESSING:
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 tablespoons ranch salad dressing
• 1 teaspoon taco seasoning found here
• 1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce, optional

Directions

• Place four 10-oz. custard cups upside down in a shallow baking pan; set aside. Place the tortillas in a single layer on ungreased baking sheets.
• Bake at 425° for 1 minute. Place a tortilla over each custard cup, pinching sides to form a bowl shape. Bake for 7-8 minutes or until crisp. Remove tortillas from cups to cool on wire racks.
• In a large bowl, combine the romaine, beans, tomato, cheese, onions, olives and jalapenos if desired. In a small bowl, whisk the dressing ingredients. Pour over salad ; toss to coat. Serve in tortilla bowls.

Healthy Tacos

D and I have started a low glycemic index diet. (How long will that last? Stay tuned!)

In this, I am following a certain diet that provides me with the recipes to follow this kind of diet for each meal. And last night's dinner just happened to be Beef Tacos with a cup of red grapes.

The serving size is 2 taco shells plus 3 oz of beef (1/1/2 oz for each shell) plus lettuce, a bit of cheese, salsa and avacado.

It's relatively simple, really. I have another blog - an actual diet blog - which I may actually post out the actual food I am eating during the day, breakfast, snacks, lunch and dinner all - and I will include the link here at some point in the near future for anyone interested.

In any case, this was an easy dinner. The kids, as usual, had their bean and cheese burritos, so the theme of the food was not lost on them.

Tacos

3 oz of lean ground beef (I use the 96/4 lean)
1/4 cup of diced onion
dash of paprika
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons of salsa
1 ounce of shredded low fat cheddar
lettuce
chopped tomato
1 tablespoon chopped avocado

2 corn taco shells

Brown the ground beef in a skillet with the onion.

Add the paprika, chili powder and garlic powder while cooking.

Add the salsa.

Spoon into taco shells, top with cheddar, lettuce, tomato and avocado.

Our recipe called for a cup of grapes to be eaten with this dinner too. So, that's optional for you.

Healthy Taco Salad

This is a dish that I tweak and finagle every time I make it. I absolutely love mexican food and when you get rid of the fatty, greasy things like tortilla chips and refried beans, the ingredients used to make mexican foods are actually quite healthful. It's prevalent in tomatoes and onions, two things that are great for you. Onions have been shown to have cancer fighting properties and may possibly help reduce the risk of heart disease. Tomatoes have lycopene, which is also a cancer fighting anti-oxidant.

Of course, there is the cheese, which is laden with fat. But in moderation, cheese has a place in a healthy diet. Cheese is rich in protein as well as calcium.

The traditional fried shells for taco salads are full of grease; hence, they are full of horrible fat. But who says that taco salad must be served in a deep fried tortilla shell, or even over tortilla chips? After all, the term "salad" is in the name of this dish, and what is a normal base of salad?

Why, lettuce of course!!

Awhile back, I took a liking to green leaf lettuce. When spun in a salad spinner, this lettuce perks right up even if it came out of the fridge looking a tad wilted. From what I gather, it is also a bit better for us than iceburg. Never researched why that is; nonetheless, every diet and health show/book I've listened to has suggested other lettuces than iceburg.

After looking at taco seasoning packets, I realized that many of them had a lot of sodium.

So, I opted for making my own taco seasoning for the beef in my salad..

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Taco Seasoning Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon flour
• 2 tablespoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 cup chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl and set aside until needed.

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Beef Taco Mixture Ingredients

• 1 lb of 96% lean ground sirloin
• 1/2 onion, minced (use a food processor)
• 1 can of red kidney beans, no salt added
• homemade taco seasoning
• fresh tomatoes
• fat free or low fat sour cream
• low fat shredded cheddar
• green leaf lettuce
  

1. Cook the beef and onion until beef is done
2. Add kidney beans and homemade taco seasoning, mixing well. Cover and let simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally

Spread the lettuce liberally on the bottom of a plate. Spoon taco mixture onto the lettuce. Top with fresh, diced tomatoes, cheese, and sour cream.

Yum! I was full before even finishing!

Mexican Night

Well, really, we had Chicken Fajitas and I made Bean and Cheese Burritos for the kids because my autistic son looooooves bean burritos. On a full fledged Mexican night in the past, I would normally make beef and bean and cheese burritos smothered in enchilada sauce (or homemade queso and enchilada sauce) and then bake it in the oven. Then we would have side stuff, like chips and cheese, salsa---well, basically nachos and on occasion I would even make quesadillas. Sometimes I'd also heat up taco shells and we'd have all the fixin's, like shredded lettuce and all....

However, not only is that too much food for just the four (and occasionally five) of us that are here, it's also very high in fat and sodium. I found a fajita recipe that I tried awhile back and we liked it so much that we've had it several times since. It's very tasty, and the bonus is that the fat content is relatively lower than most dinners (I hate to say "low fat", cuz one fajita is 12 grams of fat and 438 calories, but this can be cut down a bit by cutting out the guacamole and maybe using fat free tortillas and using cooking spray instead of oil. We usually have 2 fajitas apiece.)

It is however lower in sodium than most average dinners, despite the soy sauce. Keep in mind that a serving size of soy sauce is 1 tablespoon (which is equal to 3 teaspoons), and the sodium content is very high. This recipe calls for 1 teaspoon and will be dispersed throughout 5 servings.

All in all, it is very tasty and good.

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Chicken Fajitas

• 2 whole boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed of fat
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of oil (use cooking spray to cut fat content)
• 1 large sweet onion, peeled and cut into thin strips
• 1 sweet green pepper, cored seeded and cut into strips
• 1 sweet red pepper, cored and seeded and cut into strips
• 1/3 cup of fat free, low sodium (or no sodium) chicken broth
• 1/4 cup of fresh lime juice
• 1 teaspoon of soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons of honey
• 2 teaspoons of cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon of minced garlic
• 4 whole wheat tortillas (use fat free to cut fat content)
  
• shredded lettuce
• guacamole (optional, to control fat content)
  
• salsa
• fat free or low fat sour cream
  

(note: for busy cooks, buying the frozen, pre-cooked chicken already sliced into strips should not alter things much)

1. Bake the chicken until cooked thoroughly. Slice crosswise into strips.
2. Warm oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and peppers. Cook, stirring, until tender - about 5 minutes.
3. In small bowl whisk broth, lime juice, soy sauce, honey, cornstarch, and garlic. Stir until cornstarch is dissolved. Add to skillet (stirring once more just before you pour it in because the honey tends to settle at the bottom) Stir constantly for 1 to 2 minutes, until slightly thickened. Add chicken and stir until warm.
4. (To soften tortillas, place a stack of about 4 or 5 on a plate, cover with a wet paper towel and microwave for about 40 seconds)
5. Spoon onto the tortillas. Top with condiments of choice, roll up and serve.

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Bean Burritos for the Kids (easy)

• whole wheat tortillas
• can of fat free refried beans
• shredded cheddar
• mild salsa

Cook the refried beans in small saucepan until hot, stirring often. Spoon out onto the tortillas, sprinkle with a bit of cheese, a little bit of salsa and roll up. Yum!