While Covid–19 has meant that we can’t get out to all our favorite Mexican restaurants when we’d like, we can still enjoy many of those dishes we love at home. Taco salad is one of the easiest ways to satisfy our craving for TexMex. The salad’s ingredients can be varied to suit your family’s specific likes, including vegetarian versions. Here’s a simple taco salad I recently prepared for my husband.
Ingredients
Large flour tortillas
Refried beans
Grated cheeses
Roasted corn
Chopped iceberg lettuce
Chopped tomatoes
Chopped peppers
Grilled chicken and shrimp
Chopped avocado
Salsa
To Create a Tortilla Salad Bowl
Warm the tortilla in a skillet to make it pliable.
Lightly spray both sides of the tortilla with oil and place over an upside-down ramekin or small oven-proof bowl.
Cover the tortilla and bowl with a piece of foil, pressing it firmly around to hold the tortilla in place.
Bake the bowl on a cookie sheet at 350̊ for about 15 minutes. Once golden, remove the tortilla from the oven, and discard the foil. Leave the tortilla bowl on top of the ramekin while it cools to help solidify its shape.
To Assemble the Salad
Place the tortilla bowl on a serving plate and layer with ingredients. For the taco salad pictured, I began with a thin layer of refried beans and sprinkled it with pepper jack cheese. Then, I added a heaping tablespoon of roasted corn, the chopped lettuce, diced tomatoes and peppers, grilled chicken strips, and avocado. To top it off, I added shredded cheddar, shrimp, tortilla chips, and a slice of lime. Serve with salsa.
Smaller versions of these tortilla bowls can be made–using street taco size tortillas–for individual servings of guacamole or queso.