Hi Everyone,
You know the big football game is coming and one of my favorite things to have on Super Bowl Sunday besides all those delicious finger foods is taco salad. There is something about chips, cheese and hot sauce that calls me on that big day! Oddly enough it is one of those foods that my Husband even loves. I tell my family were having taco salad for dinner and all plans are dropped and they are home for dinner! You can’t lose with taco salad!
This taco salad has it all, chips, cheese, beef, jalapeno, salsa and of course lettuce and tomato. It is so filling, delicious and let me tell you my Husband ate more than half of it. It is crazy good! But what I also love about it, it’s not heavy!! Nothing like what you get at a restaurant. This is way better and more than half the calories. What inspired me to make this recipe was Van’s Natural Foods. They sent me a little package to try out their new products and since I have always been a BIG fan of Van’s Multigrain Waffles, I had to say yes! The inspiration wasn’t the waffles, but these fabulous Nacho, Nacho, Man! Multigrain Chips. Oh dear heavens are they good! You can seriously eat a bag in a matter of minutes!
The first thing out of my Husbands mouth was are you using real tortilla chips in it. I said no dear, I am using Van’s Gluten Free Chips. He didn’t say anything, but I know what he was thining. While I was taking photos of the food, my darling Husband dumped the remaining bag of chips on his plate. I said, what are you doing? I need those to photograph. He said, what there really good, as he shoved a mouth full of chips in his mouth. I always skimp on chips in my taco salad because I’m a dipper and I was planning on dipping the chips in some guacamole. This is all he left me.
Not much here!! At least I got a few. The chips are light, cheesy and so darn good! 15 of them are 130 calories! Not bad! I added 30 of them into my taco salad and then baked cheese on them. I used a white cheddar cheese instead of a mexican cheese because I wanted a really cheesy, creamy salad.
Then the spicy person that I am, I added some salsa and jalapenos. Oh yah!!!
Then I topped the salad with lettuce and tomato. I would have added my plain greek yogurt in it, but my Husband isn’t a fan of yogurt.
I have to tell you this was a hit! I was pretty sad because I wanted leftovers for lunch, but as I stated above my Husband ate more than half of the salad and I ate the rest. It was just darn good. I added the Van’s Nacho, Nacho Man! Chips throughout the middle of the meat and it was the perfect flavor to the salad, so yes when I make taco salad again, I will be adding my Van’s Nacho, Nacho, Man! Mutligrain Chips to it. Maybe this time he will save me a few more chips! I highly doubt it!
- 1 lbs. Grass Fed Angus Ground Beef (85% lean)
- 2 tbsp. taco seasoning
- ¼ cup water
- 7 oz can diced green chilis
- 30 Vans Nacho Nacho Man! Gluten Free Chips, divided
- ¾ cup white cheddar cheese, shredded
- ½ cup salsa (your favorite kind)
- ¼ cup jalapenos, sliced (I used pickled)
- 4 cups romaine lettuce, shredded
- 1 plum tomato, diced
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees
- Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with cooking spray; set aside.
- In a skillet add ground beef and cook until no longer pink, stirring to break up the meat; drain the fat. Add taco seasoning, water and green chilies, stirring occasionally. Cook until the water is evaporated.
- In the baking dish, add half of the Nacho, Nacho Man! Chips, top chips with half of the ground beef mixture. Top the ground beef with remaining chips and top the chips with remaining ground beef. Sprinkle the cheese over the top and place in the oven; bake for about 3 minutes until cheese is melted.
- Top your beef and chip mixture with salsa, jalapenos lettuce and tomato. It's ready to serve!
- You can also add black olives, avocado, hot sauce and sour cream
Van’s Natural Food also sent me a few other goodies to try out and I thought I would share my thoughts with you. They sent Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars in blueberry and strawberry. Ohhhh, peanut butter. They taste so peanut buttery and are so soft. They are also gluten-free, contain 10 grams of whole grains and only 160 calories a bar. I ate a few and my Husband took the others for lunch. He loved them too!! They didn’t last long in the house!
They also sent me this adorable plate that I have to share with you. I put this on my desk at work and everyone that walks in my office, said where did you get that? It’s so you! I got it from Van’s! 🙂
Ready for the giveaway? Van’s Natural Foods is kind enough to let me do a giveaway for one of my readers.
What you get:
- four free coupons for dry snacks (valid for any chips, snack bars, crackers and cereal)
- four for the frozen line
- Shopping Tote
Trust me if you are not gluten-free you will still love Van’s Natural Foods products. My Husband has no clue they are gluten-free and he loves them. I have been buying their gluten-free waffles for years and I love them with peanut butter and strawberries on top!!
To win all you have to do is tell me what is your favorite football snack?
For additional entries:
- Follow Peanut Butter and Peppers and or vansfood Twitter
- Tweet my giveaway: Win Van’s Natural Foods Gift Pack at Peanut Butter & Peppers http://www.peanutbutterandpeppers.com/2014/01/25/nacho-taco-salad-giveaway/ @JenatPBandP @vansfoods
- Follow Peanut Butter and Peppers and/or Vans Natural Foods on Facebook
- Follow me on Pintrest and / or Vans Natural Foods
- Follow me on Instagram
Have a super fabulous day!
Toodles,
Jennifer
