Taco Tuesday doesn't have to be boring with this taco salad. It's full of all the flavors of your favorite taco. And it's a salad so it has to be healthy, right? This salad is loaded with flavor. It's creamy and spicy and fresh!
I went to the MetroCooking DC food show this past year. I found some yummy pepper jack cheese curds from High Country Creamery & Market. I bought them because they were so good but had no clue what I would do with them. I held on to those curds for a couple of days trying to figure out the best way to use them in a recipe. I was running out of time because I kept snacking on them. LOL... I finally came up with a taco salad and I wanted something different from a taco in a #tortillabowl. So that's when I thought to add in some bacon! Because who doesn't love bacon? I wanted to go for a cobb style salad. I know that cobb salad usually has chopped hard boiled egg in it. I really didn't think that would work with my taco salad. If you try it out, let me know how it works. Leave a comment below.
The food show was huge with all the different vendors they had there. I found some fresh spices and even a little something for my doggie! There were snacks and #vegan options like vegan cheeses and meat alternatives. There were fresh baked goods. This was a food show for people who like to cook. It was right up my alley. I paid for the extra experience of the BBQ festival. Well, that needed a little help. I'm from Memphis where we have the International Memphis in May BBQ competition and this was not that! I mean the BBQ in Memphis is unmatched. At the MetroCooking DC show there was a whole hog but the vendor was saying, "I don't know why people keep asking to eat the skin. It's leather." Well, that's a seller?! But she was right! The skin was leather which means they have no idea what they are doing. The skin is usually the best crispy (not leathery) part of the pig.
The other part of the VIP experience was a bourbon tasting and that made up for the sub-par BBQ. I went with a friend who really knows her Bourbon so I was learning things left and right and was highly entertained. Now that was a fun experience, and I was glad there were lots of snacks around to put on my tummy because... Woo! Room spinning!
So back to these curds... These cheese curds were so great in this salad that I didn't need any special kind of salad dressing. The curds brought its own creamy texture. I used the pico de gallo and curds and that "dressed" my salad right up. Because I wanted it to be close to eating a taco, I used shredded lettuce, cheddar cheese, pico de gallo, avocado, seasoned ground beef, red onion, and sour cream. Now my own little twists included some sliced black olives, radish, bacon, scallions, and jalapeno. And for some added crunch I added some tortilla strips. It's a lot for one salad but I like hearty salads. This salad has all the macros and all the food groups so whatever you need, you have right in your bowl. You can even eat this if you're following #keto! Sounds like a win, win, win to me.
Taco Cobb Style Salad
Ingredients per Serving
3 Cups Shredded Lettuce
2 oz Seasoned Ground Beef
1 oz Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese
1 oz Pepper Jack Cheese Curds
1/4 Cup Sliced Black Olives
1/4 Cup Sliced Red Onion
1/4 Cup Pico de gallo
1 Radish, Thinly Sliced
Half of 1 Avocado, Sliced
2 Slices of Bacon, Crumbled
Half of 1 Jalapeno, seeded and sliced
Top with a dollop of Sour Cream & Sprinkle of Tortilla Strips & Scallions
Create a lovely foundation for your salad with shredded lettuce. Top with the rest of the toppings and enjoy!