Jason’s Deli Style Taco Salad

Doesn’t that look amazing! Especially with the non-dairy sour cream and cheese! Plus it’s ground turkey so it’s healthier than beef.

So Jason’s Deli makes an amazing taco salad that you can get with regular chili or turkey chili and I love the turkey chili so I decided to make it myself at home! The chili is cooked in the crockpot and the rest of the taco salad just takes a few minutes to create so it’s pretty easy!

Ingredients:

• 1 pound of ground turkey meat

• 1 can kidney beans, rinsed in a colander

• 1 small can of tomato paste

• 2 tablespoons of chopped garlic

• 1 small onion chopped

• 1 cup of mushrooms chopped

• 1 can or 2 cups of whole peeled tomatoes chopped into small pieces

• 1 tablespoon italian seasoning

• fresh salad of your choice, lettuce, spinach, whatever you’re in the mood for

• whole grain tortilla chips

• salsa of your choice

• (optional) sour cream or non-dairy sour cream & cheese for topping

 

Cook your turkey meat on the stove in a skillet until brown. While that is cooking, add the beans, tomato paste, garlic, onion, mushrooms, tomatoes to your crockpot and stir it up. Make sure everything is chopped into smaller than bite size pieces to create a good chili consistency. Add the spices and some salt and pepper and let that cook on low for 4-6 hours or until you’re ready to eat.

 

Once it’s dinner time, grab a plate and load it up with your salad base, lettuce or spinach. Spoon about a cup of the chili into the center of the salad. Make a ring of salsa around the chili. And a ring of chips around the edge of the plate. Then if you would like, top with a dollop of sour cream topping and grated cheese if you so desire.

Pretty easy, right?! I love this recipe, it’s a nice alternative to taco night and there is usually leftover chili for lunch the next day.

 

Asian Noodle Salad with Shrimp

Noodles, almond butter, and toasted sesame seeds! Yum! In this recipe I added shrimp but you can omit the meat and then it’s vegan. This is good hot or cold, dinner or a side dish with a picnic.

Ingredients:

• teaspoon red pepper flakes

• 2 teaspoons of sesame seeds

• 1/4 cup sesame oil

• 1/2 cup Bragg’s Liquid Aminos

• 2 tablespoons of almond butter

• 1/2 cup green onions

• 1 package of angel hair or thin spaghetti of your choice

• 7-10 cooked frozen shrimp (optional)

Cook the pasta as directed on the package and while that is cooking start the sauce.

Add the red pepper and sesame seeds to a pan with no oil over medium heat. Stir this constantly to make sure it is not burning but the seeds get a brown tint on the ends. This only takes a few minutes.

Once it is evenly toasted, add the sesame oil, Bragg’s, and almond butter to the pan and bring this to a boil.

If you are going to add shrimp this is where I tossed in 7-10 frozen but cooked shrimp and let them cook with the sauce to soak up the flavor.

Let this boil for 2-3 minutes and then remove from the heat and simply stir in with the noodles.

Once it is all mixed thoroughly, add the chopped green onions and enjoy! If you would like to serve it chilled simply put it in the fridge for an hour in a covered dish.

I brought this for a family dinner and everyone was asking how I made it, so now everyone can try it out and share it too!

Vegan Salad with Brussels Sprout, Leek and Beet

This is a fun one because it can be paleo or vegan! Pretty cool! Plus it’s super fast and easy.

Ingredients:

1 leek

1 large beet

15-25 brussels sprouts depending on how big they are

your choice of mixed greens, spinach, lettuce, or whatever salad base you would like

coconut spray

mediterranean salt

black pepper

So you’ll start by slicing the leek into thin slices.

Then chop rinse and peel the outer skin off the beet and chop it into bite size pieces.

And finally the brussels sprout into quarters or halves depending on their size. Last week Sprouts had some that were the size of apples but mine from Costco were pretty small so I had a lot of chopping to do.

All of this is going onto a baking sheet in the over to broil for about 20 minutes. I always put foil down first to save some clean-up later. Mix all the veggies up on the sheet and spray with coconut oil and grind some mediterranean salt and black pepper over it. I put it on the middle shelf so it wasn’t close to the broiler too, this way it didn’t burn and was just tender enough with a fork.

While that is cooking I pulled out my choice of salad base which was delicious! Sprouts Organic Super Greens has a good mixture of healthy greens.

I use my handy-dandy Pampered Chef Salad Choppers so it’s more bite size and filled up our plates.

You will also want to prepare a dressing unless you are using something that is already in your fridge.  My favorite dressing is oil and vinegar but I spice it up a little by adding a teaspoon of dijon mustard, some salt and pepper, and shake it up so it’s thoroughly mixed. Plus our olive oil is from a local store that makes it, we have fun flavors like lemon, avocado, garlic, roasted red pepper, and the balsamic vinegar is white aged vinegar so it’s delicious! Feel free to mix it up and see what works for your salad!

That’s pretty much it! Super easy, not much clean up at all. And it’s full of nutrients and very filling too! Once the veggies are done broiling and you can poke them with a fork just pile as much as you would like onto your salad and dinner is served.

My fiancé opted to make his a paleo meal so he grilled a steak to top his with as well. Here is the finished product with and without steak.