Today's Gourmet - Tacos!

So in 2009 tacos became the football day favorite! When I started eating better I loved how easy it was to convert tacos to a lower point/calorie dish! Everything is versatile in the recipe and you can easily swap things out for lower points or leave them off completely. Let’s start with what we are going to use. I already mentioned that I like the extra lean ground turkey meat and it works great for this dish.By far the best taco seasoning that I have found is Taco Bell Home Originals – BY FAR, I don’t really care for the Chipotle flavor mix, but it is all I had.
Tostitos salsa, mild, and the multigrain chips are really good, but be aware that the multigrain chips are 150 calories for EIGHT chips! Eight! That is why these are strictly for an extra bit of flare and I only use two! I find that plain fat free Greek yogurt is a great substitute for sour cream. (I also use it for a multitude of other things that I have mentioned here and I will certainly go into that again, now that we are cooking together!)

I buy the Iceberg lettuce heads and use green bags to keep it fresh for, like, forever! Now here is a little hint from me to you. This is the time to use the older lettuce that may be just slightly bitter or less than stellar. All the flavors of the taco toppings will more than make up for less than perfect lettuce! Another tip – when I am using a brand new head I always save the outer layers, those really lush, floppy, full leaves to use for wraps and burgers. (Tomorrow I will show you what I mean!) In the picture you can see that I have some older lettuce chopped, then the large leaves off to the side on top of a green bag.Now, lets put it all together! Lettuce: I am a volume eater when it comes to dinner. Now, I don't OVER eat, but I like a good filling meal. This is the place where you should go crazy - this is where the really filling food comes in because you can use as much as you like. I used 2 1/2 cups, a lot - not too much.Next up, seasoned meat. This is half of the packages serving size, still PLENTY enough.I use the yogurt, and I use about three table spoons. This is a great way to help the flavors spread over the whole salad.Salsa, another great "water-y" addition that makes it easy to coat the whole salad.On GoB's salad I put the cheese first, on mine I put it next to last, beacsue I like it almost best! A serving of this cheese is 1/3 of a cup - I used half of that.Finally, two multigrain chips crushed over the whole thing for a bit of crunch and flavor! (You know, to really bring home the TACO-ness of the salad.)Then set up with a tea and blog the whole thing!Okay, you don't have to blog it. You should though and then send me a link! That's fun! On a serious note: I hope you can see how easy this is to customize and feed everyone. I usually warm a few wraps so the kids can build their own soft tacos, bake a few shells if other people are coming over and make the whole salad a bit spicier for GoB to enjoy! :)