Fiesta salad

I have been making the original (taco) version of this dish for longer than just about any other recipe in my portfolio. Though I have always been a fan of dinner salads, I have more recently discovered how much more I enjoy some dishes as salads. For one, it stretches out the eating experience, unlike eating something like a taco that's gone a few bites. It also stretches out the ingredients. Obviously, it's healthier. And, in a way, I think it allows you to taste the flavors more since they are less concentrated. It sounds unappetizing, but the best way I can describe this phenomenon is that the lettuce is diluting the other ingredients in the best way possible. I think it's similar to mixing strong coffee or alcohol with water in order to discern the individual flavors more, an idea I picked up from this great book.

Packing leftovers for lunch is the only challenge, since components need to stay pretty separate for storage.

Fiesta Salad
Adapted from here.
Ingredients

• 1 tbsp. cooking oil
• 1 medium onion, red or yellow, chopped
• 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp. dried oregano 
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 pound ground turkey or beef
• ~1 cup tomato salsa (whatever you like, I have enjoyed this one lately
• 1 avocado
• Hard shell corn tacos
• Grated cheddar or pepper jack cheese
• Sour cream
• Lime wedges
• Lettuce

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Bake the taco shells for 3-5 minutes, until crispy and delicious, but not browned. 

Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and saute until translucent. Add all the spices and stir to blend. Add meat and stir, breaking up the chunks, until fully cooked. Add salsa to the pan and stir to combine. 

Top lettuce with meat mixture, avocado, broken up taco shells, cheese, sour cream, and lime.

I have also eaten this salad with just the meat mixture and rice. Also very good.