Recipe: Healthy Taco Salad

I teamed up with Alberta Beef Producers to make this healthy taco salad recipe so it of course contains a perfect serving of what I like to call “the best beef in the world.”

Ingredients

• 300g extra lean organic grass-fed beef
• ½ cup corn kernels
• 4 cups mixed greens lettuce
• 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
• ½ cup pinto beans or black beans
• ¼ cup thinly sliced red onion
• 1 avocado, halved and pitted, then sliced into thick segments
• ¼ cup shredded or crumbled dairy-free cheese of choice
• 4 fresh small corn tortilla shells
• 1 tablespoon organic taco seasoning
• 1 lime, halved

SIMPLE SALSA DRESSING:

• ¼ cup your favorite salsa
• 2 tablespoons dairy-free sour cream
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon honey
• Juice from ½ lime
• Pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees and line a small pan with parchment paper.
2. Cut the tortilla shells into triangle shapes and arrange the triangles along the pan then sprinkle with salt and a little bit of taco seasoning.
3. Place in the oven and bake for 5-7 minutes until hard to the touch and slightly browned (watch closely as not to burn them!)
4. Once baked, remove from oven and set aside to cool.
5. Heat a large non-stick pan over medium-high heat and add in the ground beef, breaking it up into smaller pieces as it cooks about 7 minutes.
6. Cook beef until browned through then transfer to a medium bowl lined with paper towel, let sit in the bowl to drain any excess liquid then return to the pan.
7. Add the taco seasoning and corn kernels to the pan and saute with the ground beef for 1-2 minutes.
8. Remove beef from pan and set aside to cool.
9. Assemble the salads diving the lettuce, cherry tomatoes, beans, red onion, sliced avocado, dairy free cheese, and baked taco chips between two bowls.
10. Top salads with the seasoned ground beef and corn mixture, dividing it between the two bowls.
    In a small bowl combine the dressing ingredients and using a hand blender, small blender, or a whisk and mix until well incorporated and mostly smooth.
11. Drizzle the dressing over the salad and serve each with half a lime to garnish.
12. Enjoy!

As a born and bred Albertan you might think I’m a little biased but truly, Alberta Beef is like no other and is celebrated and renowned for it’s amazing flavour and standard of quality. In Alberta there are more than 18,000 cattle producers who maintain a high standard of food safety, animal health and environmental stewardship, ethical animal care, and world-class processing facilities. Almost all of these producers are family farmers and having married into a farming family I have come to appreciate the hard work and care that goes into these day to day operations.

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You can find the full post for this recipe, including more great photography and meal planning tips, on Nutrition in the Kitch.