Turkey Taco Salad With Spicy Avocado Dressing

I am continuing on my salad-as-a-meal journey with this very filling, very tasty, taco-type salad with ground turkey and taco chips made from whole wheat tortillas. 

It took a little bit of work to get it together, with having to cook the hamburger and toast the tortillas, but over all was still very simple and was ready in under 30 minutes. 

You can eat A LOT of this for a reasonable amount of calories. According to Myfitnesspal: 

For the salad - 292 calories, 12 fat, 22 carbs, 30 protein

For the dressing (2 Tbsp)- 40 calories, 3 fat, 4 carbs, 3 protein

For the tortilla chips - 45 calories, 1 fat, 7 carbs, 1.5 protein

So, the total for ONE SERVING all together - 377 calories, 16 fat, 33 carbs, 34.5 protein.

If you are looking for something spicy, tasty, filling, and even healthy....give this salad a try!

Turkey Taco Salad With Spicy Avocado Dressing

Ingredients

Taco Spice Mix

1 Tbsp chili powder

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp paprika

1 1/2 tsp cumin

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

Dressing

1 avocado, halved and pitted

1/2 cup Greek yogurt, no fat, plain

juice of 1 lime (about 3 - 4 Tbsp)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 tsp Taco Spice Mix (recipe above)

Tortilla chips

1 large whole wheat tortilla (I used Dempster's)

Salad

~1 lb lean ground turkey

1/2 cup canned black beans, rinsed & drained

1 Tbsp Taco Spice Mix (recipe above)

4 cups spinach

1 head lettuce (iceberg), chopped

16 cherry tomatoes, quartered

1/2 cup purple onion, diced

2/3 cup Tex Mex blend shredded cheese

Directions

Prepare Taco Spice Mix - In a small container, stir together the chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, paprika, cumin, salt & pepper. Set aside. (You can also use store bought Taco Seasoning instead of making your own, if you prefer.)

Prepare Dressing - Scoop avocado from skin. Place in blender (or food processor). Add in the Greek yogurt, lime juice, minced garlic, and Taco Spice Mix. Blend until smooth. Place in airtight container and store in fridge. 

Prepare Tortilla chips - Preheat oven to 350. Cut the large tortilla into quarters. Cut each quarter into about 4 - 5 smaller triangles. Place the tortilla triangles onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and place in the oven. Bake at 350 until chips are lightly browned. Remove from heat and set aside until ready to use.

Prepare Salad - In a medium frying pan, cook ground turkey until no longer pink, stirring to break up so there are no big clumps of meat.  Stir in the black beans and the 1 Tbsp of Taco Spice Mix until well combined. Turn off heat but leave pan on heat source until ready to use. 

On a large serving plate: place 1 cup of spinach, 1/4 of the chopped lettuce, and 2 Tbsp of diced onion. Sprinkle with 1/4 of the warm turkey mixture. Sprinkle with 1/4 of the Tex Mex cheese.  Drizzle with 2 Tbsp of the dressing. Place 5 tortilla triangles on each salad. 

Serve immediately. 

Repeat with 3 remaining serving plates. 

Feel free to make this as spicy as you like. Add more of the Taco Spice Mix if you want to. You can also buy store bought taco seasoning if you don't want to make your own. 

I brought this to work the next day for my lunch....

I had the dressing in a separate container. I think next time I would also keep the turkey in a separate container so I could heat it up before having my salad. It was good cold but even better warm!

Hmmm....what other salad-as-a-meal can I make now??

(Looking for the salad-as-a-meal recipes we have already blogged about? Check these out - Asian Prawn Salad With Asian Sesame Dressing, Hot Dog Salad With Honey Mustard Dressing, Cobb Salad With Avocado Garlic Dressing, Greek Chicken Salad, Cheeseburger Salad With "Special Sauce" Dressing.)

 

Be sure to visit Hungry Little Girl for some fantastic links!