Taco salad

One of the new items on our menu this week was taco salad. I used to make something like this fairly often when I was a vegetarian, with soy crumbles and a Taco Bell seasoning packet, but I can't say whether I've ever made it with actual ground beef, let alone real spices. This time I did, and was really pleased with how it turned out!

First, I made a pound and a half of ground beef (which we barely made a dent in--this should feed us at least another lunch and then another dinner). I loosely based my seasoning on this recipe, and it ended up going something like this after adding a few things to taste and subtracting what we didn't have on hand:

Taco Meat

1.5 lbs ground beef
Seasoning mix:
1 1/2 tablespoons corn flour (masa)
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon cumin
2 teaspoons salt
pinch of brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper

Fry up ground beef in a pan. When beef is browned, add seasoning mix and stir thoroughly to coat. Depending on leanness of beef, you may need to add a little water or lard or other cooking fat to keep it moist. Cook until seasoning is fully incorporated into meat, and adjust seasoning to taste.

In addition to a bed of lettuce and a base of taco meat, we also had a toppings bar that included shredded cheese, black and kidney beans, quasi-refried beans, corn niblets, sour cream, and diced tomatoes. And, of course, a few corn chips to crumble on top.

Matt weaned me off of canned beans recently and onto dried and I must say I couldn't be happier with the switch. Previously, I had a hard time figuring out the ratio of dried beans to soaked, not to mention remembering to soak (overnight) and cook (for 2-4 hours) the beans far enough in advance that they'd be ready. I've gotten better at planning ahead, realized that the ratio is 1:2 (dried beans to resulting cooked beans), and also figured out that cooked beans freeze extremely well--meaning that if I always make an extra cup or two when I'm cooking them, I'll generally have some on hand in case of unplanned bean-containing meals. I usually cook a mixture of kidney and black beans, because they have similar cooking times and go well in the meals we usually make.

We've made our own refried beans before, and they were good, but they were also time- and labor-intensive. This time, I decided to basically make a glorified bean dip--so I cooked a little diced onion and garlic in some lard, and threw in a couple of cups of cooked beans, along with probably half a cup of the bean liquid they'd been cooking in. I stirred it all together and blended it with the immersion blender--and voila, quasi-refried beans in just about five minutes. I added a little cumin, cilantro, and salt to taste, and it's perfect on taco salad, in burritos, as a chip dip, or just eaten as a side dish with a fork. I love that kind of versatility, and both the beans and the taco salad are items we'll definitely have on the menu again!