Ingredients
(Servings: 3 large lunch salads)
small head of leafy lettuce (I used red Cherokee lettuce from our CSA)
1 lb. ground turkey
I package taco seasoning
black beans, about 3/4 of a 15.5 oz. can, drained and rinsed
8.5 oz. can of Niblets corn (or the equivalent in frozen corn)
1 Roma tomato, chopped
3/4 avocado or 3/4 of 7.5 oz. package of chunky guacamole
about a cup of shredded Mexican blend cheese
a handful of tortilla chips, crunched in pieces, per salad
bottled chipotle ranch dressing (I used Marie’s brand)
First, cook the ground turkey with the taco seasoning until the turkey is browned and no longer pink. I happened to use taco seasoning this time that was made for pork, but it still worked well.
Lately, I like to assemble salads into individual bowls instead of one large bowl. It’s easier to see that each person gets equal portions of the different salad components. After washing and spinning the lettuce, tear it into individual bowls.
Drain the corn. Drain and rinse the black beans in a collander. Rinse and dice the Roma tomato.
Lately, I can not find ripe avocadoes that are ready on the day that I shop, if I’m doing last minute shopping. So, on this day, I chose a chunky guacamole instead which worked well. You can use either.
Now, assemble the salad, spooning the toppings in rows over top of the lettuce beds: the turkey, black beans, corn, guacamole (or avocado chunks,) diced tomato and shredded cheese.
Crunch a few tortilla chips on top of each salad. I ran out of room for stripes, so I did a stripe of crunchy chip pieces in the opposite direction. Spoon the dressing in stripes, going the opposite direction.
Assembling the ingredients in rows is nice for presentation. Additionally, although it might not be absolutely necessary, this type of assembly does help to visualize equal portions in each salad, and spooning on the dressing in rows does make it a little easier to mix in evenly later when you stir everything up.
