Chopped Nacho Cheese Taco Quinoa Salad
User Reviews
5
Chopped Nacho Cheese Taco Quinoa Salad
Description
This salad starts with lean ground beef cooked with cumin, chili powder, and garlic powder, creating a savory, spiced base. Quinoa serves as a wholesome grain component, combined with butter lettuce for freshness, pinto beans for protein and texture, diced bell peppers, grape tomatoes, and shredded cheddar cheese for richness and color. Green onions and cilantro add herbal brightness.
Crushed nacho cheese tortilla chips provide a distinctive crispy texture that complements the tender ingredients. The Catalina dressing made from red wine vinegar, honey, ketchup, garlic, smoked paprika, olive oil, salt, and pepper adds a tangy, slightly sweet, and smoky flavor, marrying the salad elements.
This dish can function as a side or a main, especially when topped with avocado, pickled onions, or Greek yogurt. It is also suitable for make-ahead preparation, layering ingredients to maintain freshness and ease of assembly when serving later.
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef lean, or turkey
- 1 teaspoon cumin ground
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- 12 ounces butter lettuce chopped
- 1 cup quinoa cooked
- 1 (14 ounce) pinto beans canned, drained and rinsed
- 1 bell pepper diced
- 1 cup grape tomatoes chopped, or cherry tomatoes
- 1 cup cheddar cheese freshly grated
- 4 green onion thinly sliced
- ¼ cup cilantro chopped, fresh
- 1 to 2 cups nacho cheese tortilla chips honestly however much you’d like!, crushed
- onions pickled, for topping
- avocado plain greek yogurt or sour cream, chopped, for topping
catalina dressing
- 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons ketchup
- 1 garlic minced, clove
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- salt
- black pepper
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Note: the beef and quinoa can be made a day or two ahead of time! This is a great recipe to make with leftover taco meat or quinoa.This serves 4 to 6 as a side dish, or more if it's served with a bunch of other things.
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add the beef and break it apart with a wooden spoon. Cook, stirring often, until brown. As it’s browning, sprinkle with a pinch of salt and
- pepper, the cumin, garlic and chili powder. Break it apart into small crumbles and cook until brown. Remove it with a slotted spoon and place it on a paper towel to drain excess grease.
- In a large bowl, toss together the chopped lettuce, beef, quinoa, beans, tomatoes, cheese, onions and cilantro. Sprinkle with the crushed chips and toss. Drizzle on some of the dressing and toss well. Serve with avocado, pickled onions and greek yogurt if you’d like!
- To make ahead of time, I like to layer this in a bowl. Layer the beef first, then the beans and cheese, then remaining ingredients, then lettuce. Cover and store in the fridge. Before serving, add the crushed chips and dressing, tossing well.
catalina dressing
- Whisk together the vinegar, honey, ketchup, garlic, paprika and a pinch of salt and pepper. Stream in the olive oil while whisking until the dressing is emulsified. This stays great in the fridge for a few days!
User Reviews
Overall Rating
5
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