Everyday Taco Salad

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When I was in high school I always loved when it was taco salad bar day. I loved the combination of temperatures of warm meet and crisp cold greens, drizzled with a good amount of ranch dressing and tortilla chips for scooping, this was my favorite. This also tended to be my preferred taco night combination at home. These days, I still love a great taco salad, I ditch the old ranch and go for some updated toppings, lots of herbs, textures, and different leafy greens. I mix things up depending on the season and what I have in my crisper drawer. This makes a great use up/leftovers, summertime meal, or any time of year.

This isn’t really a recipe for taco salad per see, but the building blocks for creating your own delicious variations. Mix up the greens, and veggie combo, add lots of herbs, crunchy seeds and nuts, spicy chilies, and cooling dressing. I’m using a combo of cilantro-lime sour cream and homemade salsa, but you could go with a more traditional herby ranch, green goddess, or a cilantro vinaigrette.

Everyday Taco Salad
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Everyday Taco Salad

Recipe by Chef JenCourse: Dinner, Main, LunchCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy
Servings

4

servings
Prep time

20

minutes
Cooking time

10

minutes

Ingredients

  • 1/2 head romaine heart, torn into bite-size pieces

  • 1/2 head iceberg lettuce, cut into 8 wedges (2 per person)

  • 1/2 head radicchio or 1/4 head red cabbage, shredded

  • 4 oz fava leaves, optional

  • 1/2 recipe of Anyday Crispy Tacos ground Beef Filling, gently warmed

  • 1 cup roasted corn, see below

  • 1/2 recipe roasted delicata squash, see below

  • 1 cup cooked Mayocoba beans, see below (sub canned pinto, kidney or black beans)

  • 1 each watermelon radish, thinly sliced (sub red radish)

  • 4 ounces Cotija cheese, crumbled

  • 1/4 each white onion, thinly sliced

  • 1/2 recipe Cilantro-Lime sour cream

  • 1/2 recipe Pantry Salsa

  • 4 ounces radish sprouts, optional

  • 1 each red Fresno chili, thinly sliced

  • Roasted and salted sunflower seeds

  • Spice roasted pepitas, see below

  • Blue corn tortilla chips for serving

  • Roasted Corn

  • 1 cup of corn, fresh or frozen

  • 1 teaspoon avocado oil

  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

  • Roasted Delicata Squash

  • 1 each delicata squash, halved, seeded, sliced 1/2″ thick

  • 1 generous teaspoon avocado oil

  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

  • Chili-Cumin Mayocoba Beans

  • 2 cups dried Mayocoba beans, washed and picked through

  • 1 onion halved, with peels

  • 5 cloves of garlic, gently smashed, no need to peel

  • 2 Tablespoon ancho chili powder

  • 1 Tablespoon cumin powder

  • 1 heaping teaspoon kosher salt, plus more as needed

  • 8 cups of water, plus more as needed, the water should reach 2 inches above top of beans

  • Spiced Roasted Pepitas

  • 1 cup raw pepitas

  • 1 tablespoon avocado oil

  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions

  • For the salad: In a large low sided bowl, or individual bowls layer the romaine, iceberg lettuce, shredded radicchio, and fava leaves if using. Scatter the warmed taco meat, roasted corn, slices of roasted squash, and beans. Finish with the radish, cheese, onion, sour cream, salsa, sprouts, Fresnos, sunflower seeds, pepitas and serve immediately with tortilla chips.
  • For the roasted corn: heat a saute pan over medium-high heat, add the oil. When the oil starts to ripple add in the corn kernels. Cook on one side until the kernels start to pop and brown, sprinkle with salt, toss and cook a minute longer. Remove to a small bowl and let cool. Can be done ahead of time and kept in the refrigerator for up to a week, or freeze.
  • For the roasted Delicata squash: preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Toss the slices of squash with the oil and salt, spread out on a parchment-lined sheet pan in a single layer, making sure they do not touch. Place in the middle of the oven and roast until golden brown on the underside, about 15 minutes. Gently turn the pieces over and cook until just tender but not falling apart 5 to 10 minutes longer. Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack to cool. Can be roasted ahead of time and refrigerated for up to a week.
  • For the Chili-Cumin Mayocoba Beans: place all of the ingredients in a heavy bottom large saucepan or dutch oven. Place over medium heat and bring to a gentle simmer, avoid a hard boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and place the lid on slightly ajar. Simmer for an hour and a half. Remove the lid and check a bean for tenderness (I leave the lid off so the liquid can thicken slightly). Continue to check the doneness of the beans every 10 minutes until the beans are tender but not mushy. Note: I do not soak my beans…I know this is not what you normally are told. I used to feel guilty about this because I just don’t plan that far ahead. I usually decide last minute I want some beans and I haven’t found it to change the texture, quality, or deliciousness of my beans. It’s also an old wives tale that you shouldn’t salt your beans at the beginning of cooking. If your beans aren’t getting tender, they are probably old. Old beans take longer to absorb liquid and get tender. Occasionally, you will get beans that will never get tender, it has nothing to do with salt. If you are still weary you can add salt towards the end of cooking, be a little more heavy-handed with the salt at that point and allow the beans to cool in the liquid so they can absorb the seasoning.
  • For the Spiced Roasted Pepitas: in a saute pan, heat the oil over medium heat and add the pepitas, chili powder, and cumin. Toast gently just until the pepitas start to turn golden brown. Be careful not to burn your seeds. Remove from heat and let cool, store in an airtight container.

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