Taco Salad

This is a slight twist on a familiar dish your family will certainly enjoy. It takes 30 minutes to prepare and serves approximately six adult-sized portions. The meat/rice portion can be made ahead of time, and if you have small children it is a fun dish for them to help decorate. This meal does contain dairy, but can be altered for those needing to do lactose free as well.

Ingredients:

1 lb ground turkey or ground beef, if you wish

6 oz (half a package) of Arborio Rice by Vigo

1 pkg of McCormick Original Taco Seasoning Mix * (ingr.: chili pepper, cumin, oregano, red pepper, onion, whey solids (milk), salt, sugar, paprika, garlic, potato starch, and *citric acid (which may contain a corn derivative), or similar individual spices from single ingredient jars.

1 small head of iceberg lettuce

2 medium-sized red ripe tomatoes

1 small can of sliced olives

1 very ripe avocado

1 package of shredded cheese (be sure it is corn-free)

6 tablespoons of sour cream or plain yogurt (optional) *be sure to check your brands on our safe-products list.

Directions:

In a saucepan boil 1 1/2 cups of water and a pinch of salt, add rice. Cover and simmer (about 15 minutes). Brown meat in frying pan. Drain fat, then add 1 cup of water and package of taco seasoning mix (to taste– we don’t generally use the whole package), and the cooked rice. Continue to simmer at medium to low heat. Shred lettuce, dice tomatoes, dice avocado, and decorate each plate. Use a ramekin bowl to serve up the meat mixture in a nicely-formed mound. Top with cheese and sour cream or plain yogurt if you’d like.