A Different Taco Salad

8/5/29 Cook’s Corner

Betty Kaiser

One day last week, I was in the kitchen grumbling about what to cook for dinner.  Cooking supper on hot summer days is not easy. I finally put on my thinking cap and decided on a Taco Salad. I had all of the necessary ingredients and it is relatively quick and easy to put together.

Tex-Mex Taco Salads have been around forever but for curiosity’s sake, I looked up their history. There’s not much agreement on their origin. Most sources said that the salads originated in Texas during the 1960s. Another source said that taco salads were invented  in the late 1970s to introduce the American people to Mexican food. I beg to differ.

As someone who grew up in Los Angeles, Calif. we always knew about wonderful Mexican food. In the early 1950s, one of our family’s favorite dining out treats was dinner at El Cholo Restaurant  on Western Ave. Also, the now famous Olvera St. Marketplace. At those places, albondigas soup, chili rellenos, enchiladas, tamales, etc. were in abundance but I don’t remember Taco Salad being on the menu.

Another legend has it that Taco Salad was introduced in that same era at the newly opened Disneyland Park! Chuck and I and a group of friends drove out to the park the summer of 1955-6 in a convoy (where Chuck’s 1949 Ford broke down at midnight —but that’s another story).

None of us knew Disneyland had a Mexican restaurant. However, the Morales family, ran Casa de Fritos int the new magic  kingdom where they introduced another now well-known snack food: Doritos! Then they invented a taco dip to go along with the chips and eventually it morphed into a Taco Salad. Who knew that Taco Salad was a legend?

I thought it began at home. After all, most home cooked meals are discovered by a desperate housewife who doesn’t know what to fix for dinner! For instance, my decision to make a Taco Salad that night was because I had on hand the traditional  ground meat, pinto beans, onions, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, salad dressings, seasonings and corn chips.

Recently, I also found the following Taco Salad recipe on the Internet. I haven’t tried it yet but the combination of  arugula, tomatoes, bacon, fried bread (!) and an easy balsamic dressing sounds interesting.  It could be served as a side salad or light supper. Let me know what you think. Enjoy!

 

BLT Panzanella! 

By Lindsay @ Pinch of yum.com

2 pints cherry tomatoes, halved

1 shallot, thinly sliced (or 1 clove garlic, grated)

5–6 slices bacon

4 thick slices ciabatta bread, cut into cubes

2 avocados, cut into chunks

Thin slices of red onion

3–4 cups arugula (can substitute lettuce)

1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, cut into thin strips

olive oil, balsamic, salt, and pepper to taste

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Instructions:

Toss the cherry tomatoes and shallot and/or garlic with a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic so it can hang out while you fry the bacon.

Fry the bacon until crispy. Set aside on a paper-towel-lined plate. Leave the grease in the pan.

Add bread to the pan with the bacon grease. Toss the bread over medium heat until golden brown and crispy. Set aside on a paper-towel-lined plate.

Crumble your bacon. Toss the bacon, bread, avocado, arugula, and basil together gently. Season with more olive oil, balsamic, salt, or pepper as needed.  Note from Betty: Other favorite dressings or salsas can be used.

 

 

Contact Betty Kaiser’s Cook’s Corner by email bchattybetty@bettykaiser.com