Warm Taco Style Salad (2024)

Seeing so many people taking the Whole30®challenge in January really inspired me to go ahead and do a round myself. It’s been waaaay too long since I last took the challengeandI think itwill do me a world of good.Somehow, I’ve managed to let some of my old bad habits creep back on me and it’s about time I got them in check again. I’ve been finding myself doing a lot of grazinglately and my old nut addiction has definitely resurfaced, to the tenth power!

Grazing + Nut Addiction = Most Deadly Combination

With that in mind, I decided that, in addition to the standard rules of the Whole30®program, I would once again have to establish a NO NUT policy for myself. That means no stuffing my avocadoswith all kinds ofnut butters or using them in any of my recipes. This also meansno usingnut flours of any kind and no throwing in thathandful of walnuts in my salads and other dishes for that bit of addedcrunch…YIKES! Now that will be tough. Super tough.

As well, there shall be no snacking between meals andno food whatsoever shall be consumed oncedinner is over. Period. The last bite off my dinner plate shall be my last bite of food for the day.End of story.No exceptions.

Hey, it’s only food and it’s only 60 days. I totally got this.

Plus, I’m sure I’ll be comingup with a whole bunchof squeaky clean, delicious and satisfying recipes over the next 2 months. For some reason, my inspiration and creativity always seems to sky rocket when I’m on aWhole30®. I certainly won’t complain about that, and I don’t think any of you will, either!

So what do you saywe kick things off with aWarm Taco Style Salad?

This saladwill make you feellike you’re eating delicious, creamy, spicy taco stuffing, without the shell. Now, I don’t know about you, but what I like most about tacos is the stuffing. I can’t say I ever cared much for those tasteless, useless shells. Sure, they add a bit of an agreeablecrunch to every bite, but as far as flavor is concerned, they don’t bringmuch interest at allthe dish.

Personally, I’d much rather do without the crunch and get more of the flavor!

Plus, well,if you really missed that crunch, I figure you could always throw in a handfulof nuts… if you haven’t ruled them out like I have,that is!

Startby melting someghee in a heavy skillet set over medium-high heat and then throw in the ground beef.

Cook the meat until it becomes brown and crispy, about 10-12 minutes. Then, add the black pepper, cumin, coriander, smoked chipotle, onion powder, tomato paste and water.

Stir and continue cooking for about one or two minutes, until pretty much all the water is evaporated and you’re left with a creamy, spicy and tasty meat mixture.

Set that aside to cool slightly while you work on the vegetables.

Start by chopping the romaine and divide itbetween 2 fairly large bowls.

If you want to get fancy, garnish the bowls with a few intact lettuce leaves before adding the shredded lettuce.

Top your shredded lettuce with the tacomeat mixture…

Followed by olives, avocado and tomatoes.

Garnish with cashew sour cream and a few slices of lime.

As you may have guessed, I had this salad BEFORE myWhole30®started, so nuts weren’t off limits for me at the time. If I was to have this salad again today, I would simply replace that dollop of cashew cream with a generous spoonfulof delicious Paleo Mayo.

Now sit yourself down to this bowl of goody good nomness and lose yourself in the moment.

I think that like me, once you’ve hada taste of this Taco Style Salad,you’ll find that shell to beindeed pretty useless, after all!