Week 23: Taco Salad with a Kick
I am clearly not mentally stable because… horrific baby oil-induced sunburns, gritty PB&J and sand between my butt cheeks are my first thoughts of a beachtown summer upbringing.
In all fairness, it’s not my fault that I don’t have pavilion cotton candy, beach ball, sailing, cute tan lifeguard memories, because I only spent a few weeks of June in my hometown before heading across country to spend the summer with my Dad in California.
Leaving for the summer as a child generated a mixed bag of emotions that I had no clue how to process.
Grief, relief, excitement, anticipation, guilt, love…
- I was sad to leave friends who I knew would be hanging out together, making me feel kind of left out.
- Guilt for leaving my mom alone.
- Excited to fly in what was often a 747 and get special treatment in those days.
- Relief to get a break from my sister Kim with whom I had a very tense relationship.
- I was always super-excited to see my little sisters, my step mom, my dad and the friends that I had made on the West Coast.
- The highlight of the summer was going to our cabin on a lake in the Northwest, where I would swim, enjoy fires, play games, hang out with friends… it was really magical.
Summer fun at Wauna Lake
My summers were really cool and different than most of my friends’. As a reminder, divorced families were not common in the 60s and 70s. I was the only kid in my social circle that packed a bag and traveled 3000 miles away for custodial visitation every summer… which made me feel a little bit exotic.
Before leaving for California however, I recall my mom pulling out some favorite summer recipes… there was always a batch of cold tuna macaroni salad in the fridge. Plenty of fresh fruit with some yummy custard topping that she made (for which I cannot find a recipe) and taco salad.
There are a huge variety of taco salads; from greens served in a hard taco bowl, to warm nacho-like delicacies with very few greens. But across-the-board, in my opinion, most taco salads, are pretty satisfying.
Then again, when a big winter storm is on the way, I stockpile chips, salsa and avocados, instead of milk and bread, so I may not be the best judge of quality when it comes to taco salads.
I remember my mom making this a lot in the summer. I think she used Nacho-flavored Doritos and French’s Thousand Island dressing, which seems disgusting now, but I loved it as a kid.
Original Recipe
The favorite taco salad in the Bennett family is made pretty much like this recipe of my mom’s, with either ground turkey or ground beef (tofu for vegetarians ), cheese, salad greens, cucumber, tomato, red onion and avocado. It is mixed with broken corn chips and topped with my dressing made with salsa, sour cream and a little Worcestershire.
I wanted to add a more grown-up flavor profile to the standard family-style taco salad recipe and did so using tequila, a strong, hard cheese (thank you Cheese Louise), avocado oil, and tomatillos.
The result
I enjoyed the tang of the tomatillo and the way it contrasted to the bite of the tequila in the dressing.
Sure it’s taco salad, but it definitely didn’t taste like the one I ate as a child.
I wanted a second opinion, just to be sure, so brought some to my friend who owns a tavern in Woodstock (check out the Station Bar and Curio) … she gave it a thumbs up as well.
Ingredients:
1 pound of lean, all natural ground meat (turkey, chicken or beef)… or tofu
2 ounces of Comte cheese, shredded
Approximately a half a cup of chopped tomatillo
Approximately a half a cup of chopped red, yellow or orange pepper
1 tri-pack of Romaine lettuce heads or 1 large head of Romaine washed
1 ripe Avocado
1 15 oz can Kidney Beans
Chopped Cucumber
Chopped Tomatoes
2 Tablespoons chopped Red Onion
Cilantro (unless you’re one of those people that absolutely can’t stand Cilantro and think it tastes like soap)
Cholula Hot Sauce, taco sauce or Tabasco (optional)
Dressing
(measurements vary depending on the size of your salad)
3 tablespoons Avocado Oil
1 tablespoon Tequila
2 tablespoons Lime Juice
A dash of Sugar, Salt and Pepper to taste
Directions:
Chop and sauté the tomatillo and the red pepper together in 1 tablespoon ( or more if needed ) of avocado oil, until the vegetables are slightly brown and translucent. set aside in a bowl.
Cook your protein source of choice and set aside.
Add salt, pepper and Cholula for flavor, if desired.
Wash and prepare Romaine Lettuce and salad vegetables.
Combine ingredients for the dressing and lightly whisk.
Place all of the ingredients in a large salad bowl including the crushed chips pour the dressing on top and toss.
The salad definitely tastes better if the meat is still warm to bring out the flavor of the cheese and it softens the chips.
Doesn’t get much easier than that for a summer salad served with margaritas on the deck!
A Day to Remember
Karen and Kit
Before I get to next week’s recipe…I just want to introduce you to my sister Karen, who died in a car accident 49 years ago this week on June 7th. It seems fitting to mention this on a blog about my mother. My daughter Kara shares her birthday and my son Alex, who’s birthday is June 4th, came VERY close to being born on her “death day” …I am so glad that did not happen!
My memories of Karen are few, as I was only four when she died, but the ones I have are delightful. She played with me, cuddled me, loved animals, and was the only one that could wash my hair without getting soap in my eyes. Karen, I have always felt you with me and you would have been a fabulous Auntie!
Week 23 Recipe Pick
We’re finally getting a little summer heat here in the Catskills, so I’ll probably not want to do a lot of cooking this week.
I can’t decide which of these salads to make…
Looks delish! That photograph is, by the way, SUPER CUTE!!!
Thank you….you are so loyal! big weekend in your neck of the woods … congrats! <3
Fun recipe. I love Taco Salad! Your comment about 1000 Island Dressing caused a chuckle. As you know, my taste buds haven’t been this same since chemo. So when I crave something or it sounds good, we jump on it. Last year, I suddenly craved a simple Taco Salad with 1000 Island Dressing. We must have had that 6 or 7 times, maybe even more, a couple right in a row. It was perfect! I don’t think it came from memories of Mom’s Taco Salad but rather from college days when a group of friends went to a local Taco Time frequently as a splurge I haven’t had it that way since then, I don’t think. In recent years I’ve tended to like salsa and a little sour cream for a dressing instead. But your new dressing sounds interesting, too. Nice combo.
One comment: in the great picture of the sautéed veggies it looks like you have green pepper in there. At the beginning of of your directions you say to chop and sauté the tomatillos and red pepper. In your list of ingredients you have red and yellow peppers. So you might want to sync those up by adding green peppers to the ingredients and yellow and green to what’s being chopped and sautéed so they match the picture. Not a big deal because people can improvise for their own tastes but for those who need to follow recipes to the letter, it might help. 🙂
Also, beautiful memories of Karen. Nice addition given the dates. My Junior HS Graduation was the day before she died. Robert Kennedy was killed 2 days beforehand. It was a rollercoaster of emotions that week.
Thanks for the comment and suggestion my dear. Like you, I can’t stand green pepper…so that is in fact tomatillos (green) and red pepper in the frying pan. Red, yellow or orange pepper with tomatillo would produce the same sweet and tangy flavor but as you know, green pepper would take over the entire dish!