Summer is over and the days of chunky sweaters, layering and sweats are upon us. But just because the bikini days are behind us doesn’t mean you should lose total control every weekend at the tailgate. Now I’m a girl who likes to eat, but with football on 5 days out of the week, we all could use a little help reining it in from time to time.

So I’m introducing one of my favorite dishes of all time, it’s super easy on the chef and on your waistline. It grows and grows so it’s perfect for a large tailgate or serve it for a couple friends on Sunday and enjoy left overs all week. Here’s my Tailgate Taco Salad.

Tailgate Taco Salad

Tailgate Taco Salad

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups elbow noodles
  • ½ pound ground beef
  • 1 can kidney beans
  • 2 or 3 tomatoes
  • lettuce
  • ½ cup celery
  • 1 cup cheddar cheese
  • ½ cup green pepper
  • 1 ½ cups of black olives
  • tortilla chips (optional)
  • avocado
  • 1 bottle of mild La Victoria salsa

Dressing Ingredients:

  • ½ cup salsa (I use pace)
  • ½ cup oil
  • ½ teaspoon chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
  • ¾ cups sour cream

Preparation:

  1. Brown the meat in a pan and drain any excess grease once browned
  2. Add ¾ of the bottle of La Victoria
  3. While the meat cooks, boil water and cook the noodles
  4. Once the noodles are cooked, drain and set aside
  5. Prepare all of the veggies, wash, chop, slice, grate, etc.
  6. After about 20 minutes, remove the meat let cool
  7. Use the lettuce as your base and add in all of the remaining ingredients
  8. For the dressing, just mix the dressing ingredients with a whisk
  9. Top with cheese and for extra crunch, smash up tortilla chips and sprinkle on plated dishes

Just a little helpful advice, I serve the dressing on the side so that my guests can choose how much they want but also the salad will preserve better for left overs if you don’t dress it! Enjoy!!