The salad is a hearty blend of fresh peppers, tomatoes, and corn plus seasoned ground beef and shredded cheese.
Catalina dressing may sound like an unlikely sauce for this salad, but trust me – it is so delicious in combination with the taco-spiced meat and the crisp veggies.
This dish has been a favorite of ours for a long time… a favorite of mine and my husband’s that is. For some reason our kids don’t like it, but that’s fine by us. they can just have a bowl of cereal or something while we dig into this amazing taco salad.
We first discovered it many, many years ago at a party where it was set out as a dip. After a few bites we pretty much spent the rest of the party parked at that bowl!
We dashed home to recreate it for ourselves, leaving out a few things we didn’t want in there and adding others.
Sometimes we refer to it as a dip, and even though it could be an appetizer we always have this salad as a dinner.
We devour so much of it that my husband and I would feel too guilty if it was only the appetizer!
Leftovers can be refrigerated for up to two days, but we like it best when it’s freshly tossed together.
The beef still warm from the pan combines so tantalizingly well with the crisp, fresh veggies.
Feel free to put this out as an appetizer if you’d like, but if you enjoy it as much as we do you may decide you want to keep it all for yourself!
The Chopped Taco Salad recipe is below, and here are a few other corn and veggie recipes for you!
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- FRESH TOMATO BASIL SALSA. This salsa came about a few years back when my daughter and I spent most of the summer eating Margherita Pizza:.
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- Grilled Corn Salsa
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- Cherry Tomato Basil Tart
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- Cucumber Salsa On Toast with Chevre
- 3 ears sweet corn cooked and sliced from the cobs - about 2-1/4 cups of kernels (or an equivalent amount of canned sweet corn)
- 2 medium tomatoes
- 1 green bell pepper
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 4.5-ounce can diced green chiles
- 1 pound 93% lean ground beef
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1-1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese
- 1 cup Catalina dressing (sometimes labeled as California French)
Begin by putting the corn kernels into a large bowl. Prep the tomatoes by slicing them in half, scooping out the seeds, and then dicing the tomatoes. Add the diced tomatoes to the bowl.
Slice open the green and red bell peppers, remove the membranes and seeds, then dice the peppers. Add these to the bowl with the corn and tomatoes. Pour the green chiles (with the liquid) in as well, and stir all of the veggies together. Hold this aside while you cook the beef.
- Crumble the ground beef into a medium-sized skillet and brown it over medium heat. When all of the beef is browned, drain off the excess grease then add the spices to the pan: the chile powder, cumin, garlic powder, salt, onion powder, black pepper and oregano, along with 1/2 cup of water. Stir the spices and water in with the beef and bring everything to a simmer. Cook the mixture for about 5 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat.
- Spoon the beef and sauce into the bowl of veggies. Pour in the cup of Catalina dressing, and stir to combine the beef, veggies, and dressing. Sprinkle in the shredded Mexican-blend cheese and fold it into the salad.
Serve the taco salad immediately with tortilla chips, portioning some into smaller bowls if you're having it for dinner like we do! Leftover salad can be stored in a covered container for up to 2 days. Makes about 10 cups.
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Well, did you have this salad for dinner? Or as an app? Please tell me what you think: write a comment below, and click on the stars up there to rate this recipe!
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