Taco Salad

I mentioned before that there are two salads that I have gotten into a rut of eating all the time. Well, this is one of them (and I notice from the comments that many of you are taco salad fans too.) What you see is a bed of spinach and baby lettuces tossed with lime juice, topped by chili-spiced pinto beans and homemade salsa. I've also included a little fresh tomato and avocado on the side.

I have to admit to you that on most days I'm too rushed to make both chili beans and salsa, so often one or the other (or both!) comes from a can. But, if you have time to make them from scratch, it's completely worth it. Besides being able to control what goes into your beans and salsa, you will be amazed at how much better the salad tastes with fresh ingredients.

When I make salsa, I never measure ingredients, so this is just a list of what I usually add:

diced tomatoes
chopped green pepper
chopped red onion
minced garlic
minced jalapeño pepper
lime juice
black pepper
salt

I mix it up and let the flavors mingle for about 15 minutes before using.

For the chili beans, I used a pressure cooker, but you can cook these on the stove top or in a slow cooker. The pressure cooker just makes it so much faster.

Chili Pinto Beans

1 pound dried pinto beans, rinsed, picked over, and soaked
3 cups water
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
2 dried red chilies (whole)

2 tbsp. tomato paste*
2-3 tsp. chili powder (may use all or part chipotle chili powder)
salt, to taste
1 green pepper, minced

Cover the beans with water and presoak them overnight; or do a quick-soak by bringing them to a boil for one minute, removing them from the heat, and allowing them to stand, covered, for one hour.

Drain the soaking liquid from the beans. Place them in the pressure cooker with the water, onion, garlic, oregano, cumin, and chilies. Close the pressure cooker and bring it to high pressure; cook for 5 minutes at high pressure. Remove from heat and allow the pressure to come down naturally.

Open the cooker and remove the dried chilies (squeeze them gently to get out all the flavor, but don't add the seeds to the beans if you don't want them to be spicy). Add the remaining ingredients and cook, uncovered, for 20-30 minutes. Adjust seasonings to your own taste. Serve hot with fresh salsa.

This makes about 6 servings. Try it as a filling for burritos, or mash it and "fry" it in a non-stick skillet for refried beans.

*I am crazy about Amore Tomato Paste in a tube. It's great when you don't need an entire can of tomato paste, and I think it tastes better than the store brand, too. I will not lie to you: compared to the cost of grocery store tomato paste, it's expensive. If you don't want the added expense, open a can of tomato paste, use what you need, and freeze the rest in a freezer bag for a later use. Flatten the bag so that it's easy to break off a chunk of tomato paste whenever you need it.

Okay, that's 4 out of 5 salads. Tune in tomorrow to see another of my old favorites!

Tags: vegan recipes vegetarian cooking food fat-free Eat to Live salad