A Kitchen and An Apprentice

Week 2 of this salad series brings us the taco salad.  Taco salads are a staple and it seems like there a million variations.  And I must admit – they’re all good.  I haven’t had a bad taco salad.  Some of the things I like in a taco salad that take it up a level for me are cotija cheese and a vinaigrette dressing.  I love the creamy saltiness of cotija cheese.  It adds a flavor that contrasts so well with the meat and acid you add to the salad.  And while I do love all the sour cream, guacamole, pico de gallo additions, I also love a good tangy vinaigrette on top.  One of my favorite salads is Chipotle’s.  They inspired the vinaigrette that I now love to add to my taco salads at home.  This is a variation of a taco salad you don’t see often – give it a try and let me know what you think!

Yield: 4 servings

Taco Salad

This variation of a taco salad is like a street taco on a salad with a vinaigrette dressing. Simple, delicious, and satisfying!

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Ingredients

SALAD

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• salad greens of choice (see note), enough to make 4 dinner salads
• sour cream (optional)
• avocado or guacamole (optional)
• salsa or pico de gallo of choice (optional)
• tortilla chips (optional)
• cojita cheese
• grilled corn, cut from cob (optional)
• cilantro
• 1.5-2 LBS ground beef or meat of choice, cooked and seasoned with taco seasoning spices

VINAIGRETTE

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• 6 TBSP red wine vinegar
• 3 TBSP honey
• 3/4 cup olive oil
• 3 TBSP dried oregano, rubbed between hands into fine pieces
• 2 TSP salt
• 1/2 TSP black pepper
• 2 TBSP chili powder
• 2 TSP tomato paste
• 1 garlic clove, minced

Instructions

First make the vinaigrette by combining all ingredients in a mixing bowl or jar and whisking together or shaking to combine. Set aside.

Next, prepare all of your salad greens and garnishes into separate bowls for serving. Then prepare your taco meat.

When ready to serve, build your salad and drizzle with vinaigrette. Enjoy!

Notes

Salad greens: I usually use romaine for a taco salad because it's hearty and can hold up to warm taco meat. That said, this is also good with just about any salad mix or salad greens available.

Inspired by: Chipotle

We’re closing out this 5-week series on burgers with oven-roasted fries.  While not always necessary to accompany a burger, fries sure do make it a meal.  They’re easier to make at home than you may think.  If I order a burger at a restaurant and they serve it with hand cut fries, I’m always a fan.  The frozen fries just don’t cut it for flavor and texture.  And who knows what they’re putting on it in the manufacturing process to keep it from browning.  I’ve heard that McDonald’s contracts their potato farmers to apply some sort of chemical that prevents potatoes from developing black spots in them.  The chemical is so strong, that the farmers applying it have to where the equivalent of hazmat suits.  This is unvalidated hearsay, but enough to scare me away from manufactured fries.  Buying fries is a little like buying hashbrowns – they’re just cut potatoes!  My theory is always, if you can make it cheaper, better, and using basic ingredients, I’m all for it.  Disclaimer, I do not fry the fries when I make them at home.  In my opinion, the level of effort isn’t worth it.  You can make great fries in your oven if you follow a few simple steps.

A Few Tips for Homemade Oven-Baked Fries:

• Use a hot oven (425F), and place the sheet pan closest to the heat.  On a bake setting, that’s usually the bottom rack of the oven.  Let the fries cook until they start to brown thoroughly on the bottom and then flip.  The only times I’ve overcooked fries were when I extended the overall cooking time to accommodate the timing of the meat cooking.  Otherwise, it’s hard to overcook them if you pay attention to the total time they’re in the oven (20-25 minutes at 425F).
• Space out the fries.  As with anything that you’re cooking, if you’re trying to brown or sear, you don’t want things crowded.  If you dump a bunch of fries on a sheet pan and don’t take the care to space them out, you’ll end up with steamed, not crispy, fries.
• Choose a good potato.  You really can use any potato that you like, however the flavor, texture, and size of a russet is tough to beat for fries.
• Season well.  Coat with olive oil (or oil of choice) and season well with salt.  Once the fries are done cooking, I usually season again with some sort of BBQ rub or seasoning salt. 

Be sure to scrub the exterior of the potato.  I cut them into large matchsticks by slicing the potato into ¼” slices lengthwise and then cut those into ¼” matchsticks.  But you can vary your cutting method to your preference to what you’re serving them with.

• Standard matchsticks.  ¼” matchsticks as described above to serve with burgers.
• Steak frites or shoestring.  Cut the matchsticks down to 1/8” to serve alongside a steak.
• Steak fries.  Cut into ½” matchsticks for a fry with a higher ratio of potato filling to crispy edge.

Week 4 of this 5-week burger series brings us to the lettuce wrapped burger.  For splurges, I definitely enjoy a burger on a delicious bun.  If it’s homemade (or restaurant made), I’m even happier.  But at home, we most often enjoy our burgers bunless or lettuce-wrapped.  The primary driver is that it’s just easy.  Whether you’re making your own buns at home or even buying them at the store – the first takes effort and the second results in a bunch of buns that now you don’t necessarily have a use for.  In addition, it adds a bunch of carbs, and I’d pick fries over a hamburger bun any day.

Use whatever lettuce you have on hand.  If you’re planning a meal and shopping for burger lettuce, here are a few I like to use for different styles of burgers:

• Iceburg: for just a basic lettuce flavor and lots of crunch
• Arugula: for the roasted red pepper & goat cheese burger; although the peppery flavor of arugula goes good with any burger
• Spring mix: it just looks pretty and gives you a good mix of different lettuce flavors
• Butter or Bibb:  like iceburg, this is a great lettuce to use if you want to completely wrap the burger and pick it up to eat it