Meatless Taco Salad

PaulineKK

I love beef, but it is so high in fat, cholesterol, etc., especially ground beef. I desperately wanted either a taco or a taco salad. Since the tortillas are high in calories, I opted for a salad. Here is the recipe I came up with and the counts.

Meatless Taco Salad (Serves 5)

Yves Meatless ground meat (1/3 cup per serving = 60 cals) 285
Newman’s Own Black Bean and Corn Salsa (1 Jar) 280
One bag of Zesty Corn and Black Bean Blend 400
1 Red Onion (Medium) diced 40
1 cup of 3 pepper & onion blend (freezer section)(optional) 25
Private Selection Artisan Lettuce (5 cups) 40
2 sticks of Poly-O Tomato and Basil string cheese (or other flavor) 140
2 Sazon Goya coriander and annatto packets
Taco seasoning or Adobo (if you are watching sodium, go with Adobo)

Total Calories 1225

Single Serving 245
Carbs 35
Fat 3
Protein 17
Fiber 11
Cholesterol 3

Spray skillet with pam.
Cook diced onion, add chopped up pepper and onion blend.
(I like to chop them while they are still frozen. Of course, you can use fresh bell peppers as well, but it is cheaper for me to buy the frozen bag and you get all the colored peppers.)
Once the peppers are warmed through, add one package of meatless ground meat and the bag of Zesty Corn and Black Bean blend.
Add your seasonings. Blend in skillet.
After about two minutes, add the jar of Black Bean and Corn Salsa.
Blend and heat through.

Chop up two heads of artisan lettuce or use Romain or bagged salad. (I reserved some raw red onion to add to the lettuce). Put lettuce in a bowl. Spoon over some of your meatless mixture. String some of your Poly-O cheese and let it melt in. I use about a half of a stick per bowl. You can use more, just adjust your calories accordingly.

This makes an insane serving (the lettuce is practically a freebee so feel free to pile it on)
If you choose to use the shredded taco cheese, 1/4 cup is about 100 calories, 8g of fat (5 of it saturated), 25 mg of cholesterol.

If you want to add jalapenos, a 1/4 cup is about 30 calories.

I was blown away by how flavorful this is.

concordancia

I use lentils, as most "meatless" products contain soy, which I avoid for medical reasons.