Category: TexMex

Taco Salad

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Taco Salad

  • Servings: 6
  • Difficulty: Easy
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THIS IS NOT GOOD IF YOU ARE COUNTING CALORIES. This is a good salad, a little high in calories but hey once in a while, you have to say, ok, I will indulge. I started this recipe as this was something I had in a restaurant but their version was 1000 so I did all I could to reduce it. I have a few more tricks that I will mention in closing. So let’s get to it.

Ingredients

  • 1 package of Taco Seasoning Mix (Old El Paso)
  • 1 cup of cooked black beans (if you use canned, make sure to rinse)
  • 1 lb of extra lean ground beef
  • 45 grams or 1.5 ounces of Cheddar Cheese (reduced fat)
  • 1 medium onion chopped
  • 1 avocado
  • 3 corn on the cob
  • 1 cup of Salsa (Herdez Salsa)
  • 1 cup of Cilantro chopped
  • 2 cup of Spinach
  • 2 cup of Cooked white rice
  • 2 jalapeño chopped (optional)

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350.
  2. Put tortilla shells in mold and cook for 10-12 minutes
  3. In a boiling pot of water cook corn for 10-12 minutes.
  4. Once cooked, rinse with cold water to stop cooking and shuck.
  5. In a pan, brown the ground beef and make sure to loosen.
  6. Add Taco mix and cook using directions on package.
  7. Now is assembly, shell, put in rice at bottom, put black beans, taco mixture. Then top with corn, onion, jalapeño, avocado, cheese, cilantro, spinach and salsa.

Nutrition Per Serving

  • Calories 622 each
  • Fat 18.9 g
  • Sugar 2.6 g
  • Carbohydrates 82.8 g
  • Protein 31.7 g
  • Fibre 8.3 g

I started making this at home ironically because I had left over rice and thought of the salad we sometimes have at the mexican restaurant. Want to save time, everything can be prepared ahead of time. Just don’t cut your avocado until the last moment or you can use guacamole. If you want to save some calories, omit the rice at the bottom. I usually use my own salsa which is made to my taste and heat level. I’ve seen this recipe done with refried beans instead of black beans, and brown rice instead of white rice. The possibilities are endless, you can use fish, chicken, pork, completely vegetarian, beyond meat, anything. Let your imagine go, have fun and make it your own.

Easy Salsa

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Easy Salsa

  • Servings: 4 - 1 cup jars
  • Difficulty: Easy
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We grow lots of cherry tomatoes and because they are sweet, they make a great salsa. I use a canning process to jar them to preserve this so that I can have some throughout the year. I put them in 250 ml or 1 cup jars. It will keep in the fridge for 2 weeks easy without canning. The recipe is without the canning process.

Ingredients

  • 4 cups of chopped cherry tomatoes
  • 1 large spanish onion chopped
  • 2 cherry bomb peppers minced
  • 1 large jalapeño minced
  • 1 tbsp of salt
  • 1 tbsp of pepper
  • 1 tbsp of white sugar
  • 1/2 cup of fresh chopped cilantro

Directions

  1. In a large bowl put all ingredients together and cover for 3 hours so all the flavours can marry. Adjust your salt to your taste.

Nutrition for complete recipe

  • Calories 244
  • Sugar 34.6 g
  • Carbohydrates 51.8 g
  • Protein 6.2 g
  • Fiber 10.8 g
  • Fat 0.2 g

Nutrition per 1/4 cup

  • Calories 60
  • Sugar 8.6 g
  • Carbohydrates 13 g
  • Protein 1.3 g
  • Fiber 2.8 g
  • Fat 0.02 g

As I mentioned you can use your favourite canning process to preserve these. If you are having a party, 4 cups spread out is not that much (trust me). There is no end on how you can change up this recipe. I usually make one batch really spicy and one batch not so much. When ready to serve I’ve added cooked corn kernels and black beans and it becomes one heck of a dip. You can add, at that time a little sour cream to it and it becomes another type of dip. I’ve used it in tacos, tortillas, and thrown a jar in for different tex/mex recipes I’ve done. There is no limit to the changes you can do and what you use this for. The only limit is your imagination. So enjoy it and make it your own. Let me know what you come up with.

Turkey Tortilla

The Sunshine Inn Blog1 Comment

Turkey Tortilla

  • Servings: 1
  • Difficulty: Easy
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Well Christmas has come and gone and what do we have left? Turkey… So we make turkey soup, we make turkey pot pie, turkey sandwiches, turkey tettrazini. A friend asked me what to do that was an easy lunch besides white bread turkey sandwich. I gave him this idea and he suggested I post it for you to enjoy.

Ingredients

  • 1 large flour tortilla
  • 30 grams or 1-1/4” cube of cheddar grated
  • 3 ounces of shredded cooked turkey
  • 1/4 cup of black beans (I make my own but you can use canned, unsalted of course)
  • 1/4 onion chopped
  • 2 tbsp of salsa (I have a recipe on the blog for easy salsa but you can use your favourite salsa)

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  2. Put salsa, onion, cheese, beans and turkey in centre of tortilla.
  3. Fold over into a square covering everything.
  4. Wrap in foil.
  5. Place in oven for 30 minutes until it heats through.

Nutrition Per Serving

  • Calories 481
  • Sugar 9 g
  • Carbohydrates 35.2g
  • Protein 38.8 g
  • Fiber 7.7 g
  • Fat 20 g

Serve this with a salad and you have a complete meal. You can have so much fun with this recipe. You want it spicy add jalapeños or a spicy salsa. You don’t like black beans but you like refried beans, change it up. It will change the calorie count but that is up to you. You ran out of turkey but you have left over roast beef, make it a beef tortilla. Have fun and make it your own.