Garden Taco Salad Recipe

We edited this recipe quite a bit to make it our own, so you can go with whatever suits you. I will put the whole original recipe, and notes on what all we changed. We also prepared it kind of different. It turned out really good though. I hope you enjoy!

You Will Need:
-4 cups mixed green lettuce
-1 red, yellow or orange pepper, sliced (We used a yellow pepper and we chunked it up or diced it up, not sliced.)
-1/2 cup sweet purple onion, sliced (We used yellow onion and diced it up, not sliced.)
-1/2 cup kidney beans, canned and drained
-8 oz lean ground longhorn, buffalo, or beef, 93% lean or higher (We used ground turkey instead that was 50% leaner than beef, at 460 calories I think for all 8 oz.)
-1 package taco seasoning (We ended up only using half a package, and I recommend that for you, because one package taco seasoning is supposed to be for a whole pound of meat.)
-1/2 cup whole kernel mexican style corn, drained (We created our own mexican style corn. We put a can of regular corn, drained, in a pan with a can of original rotel tomatoes, NOT drained and simmered them together until they were hot.)
-4 whole roma tomatoes, cut into wedges (Since we used the rotel in the corn, we completely cut out the tomatoes.)

**The next three ingredients we used as a topping (I'll explain all that below), instead of mixing it in.**

-1/4 cup low fat cheddar or monterrey jack cheese, shredded (We used 1/3 cup fiesta blend shredded cheese for EACH serving, so technically you would need 1 1/3 cup cheese.)
-1/2 cup chunky style garden salsa, mild or spicy (We used aldi brand mild salsa, 2 tablespoons per serving which ends up 1/2 cup total!)
-1/2 cup lowfat sour cream (Which is 2 tablespoons per serving)

Original Directions:
-Brown meat in pan, pour off any fat, mix in taco seasoning and set aside.
-Slice peppers, onions, and tomatoes and toss with lettuce.
-Add kidney beans and corn to salad mixture. Chill.
-Top with salsa, cheese, sour cream, and hamburger. Serve with baked tortilla chips

MY DIRECTIONS: (I suggest using my directions because it turned out really good)
-Brown the meat in a pan, pour off any fat, mix in taco seasoning and set aside.
-Dice peppers and onions.
-Use one cup of lettuce and put in each bowl/plate (making four bowls of food, or four servings), then split up the peppers and onions into the four bowls also. Add 1/8 cup of kidney beans to each bowl.
-Drain the can of corn, put in a pan, add the can of rotel tomatoes undrained, then simmer on the stove for about 10-15 minutes or until it's boiling and warm.
-Split the corn/rotel mixture into four, and put in each bowl on top of the lettuce/veggie/bean mixture.
-Split the meat into four, and put in each bowl on top of the corn/rotel/lettuce/veggie/bean mixture.
*At this point if you used exactly what I used it should be about 243 calories per serving.*
-At the table, add the toppings as you would like. We used 1/3 cup of the cheese, 2 tablespoons of the sour cream, and 2 tablespoons of salsa to the top and enjoy!
*If you use the exact amount and brand of cheese, sour cream and salsa I use that should bring the total calories up to 403 for one serving.*

I don't think I would have enjoyed this recipe if I made it exactly as the recipe called for. With our own creations and tweaking it was really good and one serving was filling enough! Enjoy!