Salad Ingredients:
- 1 lb. ground beef (use lean ground beef for South Beach Diet)
- 1-2 tsp. olive oil (as needed, for browning the beef)
- 2 T Kalyn's Taco Seasoning (or use your favorite commercial taco seasoning)
- 1 cup water
- 5 oz. baby kale leaves, washed and spun dry if needed
- 1 red bell pepper, sliced into thin strips
- 1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes, cut in half
- 1 can (6.5 oz.) sliced olives (or if you can't find the large cans of sliced olives, just slice a can of regular olives)
- 1-2 avocados, diced
- 1 T fresh squeezed lime juice (to toss with avocado)
Dressing Ingredients:
- 2 T fresh squeezed lime juice (I use my fresh-frozen lime juice.)
- 1/2 tsp. ground chile powder (I like ground Ancho chiles)
- 1/4 tsp. ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp. Spike Seasoning (optional, but it does add flavor)
- 3 T olive oil
Instructions:
- Heat the olive oil in a heavy frying pan, crumble the ground beef into the pan and cook over medium-high heat until the beef is browned, breaking apart with a turner as it cooks. (I use an old-fashioned potato masher to break the meat apart!) When the beef is well browned, sprinkle in the taco seasoning and add the water, stir to combine, and simmer on low heat until all the liquid is evaporated, about 8-10 minutes. When the bottom of the pan is completely dry, remove the taco meat and let it cool in a bowl until it's just slightly warm.
- While the beef cooks, whisk together the 2 T lime juice, ground chile powder, ground cumin, Spike Seasoning (if using), and olive oil to make the dressing. Wash the baby kale and spin dry if needed. (I like to snip off the larger stems, but it's completely optional.) Cut the red pepper into strips and cut the cherry tomatoes in half. Cut the avocado(s) into cubes and toss with the 1 T of lime juice.
- Put the kale leaves into a bowl that's big enough to hold all the salad ingredients and toss with the dressing. Add the slightly cooled taco meat, red pepper strips, and tomato halves and toss again. Then add the avocado pieces and gently toss again. (I save a few avocado pieces to garnish each salad.) Serve right away.
- If this makes more than you can use at one meal, prepare all the ingredients, then refrigerate the ingredients separately and toss ingredients with the dressing right when you're ready to eat. You may want to let the dressing and taco meat come to room temperature for a few minutes if it's been refrigerated.
