Healthier Taco Salad

When we are feeding other people, we feel guilty making just a salad. But that's what we wanted, so we found a dish that exists in both salad and non-salad form: the healthier taco (salad). I write "healthier" for several reasons. Firstly, we used extra-lean ground turkey instead of beef. We added lots of vegetables, and for the salad, we used only a few reduced-fat chips. Obviously, this isn't the healthiest salad in the world, but we felt pretty good about our modifications.

We transformed the salad from a bunch of ingredients thrown together to a cohesive dish by cooking the ground turkey with seasonings and tomatoes. Additionally, we made a pico de gallo to use for our dressing, and it pulled the salad components together wonderfully.


Ingredients:
(pico de gallo)
3 plum tomatoes, seeded, chopped
3/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
4 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoons minced jalapeño chili
1 garlic clove, minced

(salad)
1 lb. ground turkey
1/2 can tomatoes
1/8 cup onion, chopped
1 tsp chili powder
1 tbsp oil
1 head romaine lettuce, cut into salad-sizes pieces
1 can black beans
1 bell pepper, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup reduced-fat tortilla chips
cheese (optional)

Instructions:
Make pico de gallo by mixing together all of the ingredients. Heat oil in a large pan. Add turkey and cook through, add tomatoes and chili powder and cook for an additional minute or so. Divide lettuce between two plates, top lettuce with remaining ingredients and pico de gallo.