Ground turkey taco salad

The other day, I was binge shopping at Trader Joe’s and bought the lamb and some ground turkey. I used the lamb yesterday and decided I should probably use the turkey today before I forget and it goes off.

I looked up a recipe for ground chicken taco salad in Better Homes & Garden’s “Chicken” cookbook. It looked pretty good, but it called for an entire jar of salsa and chili powder. I didn’t want to use the last of my picante sauce and I don’t have any chili powder (lots and lots of chile powder but no chili. Chili powder has dried chiles, cumin, oregano and garlic powder. Chile powder is just ground dried chiles.)
So I improvised a new recipe. The amounts for the spices are estimates. After the meat is cooked, check for spices.

Linna’s turkey (or chicken) taco salad

1 pound ground chicken or turkey
2 T olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1-1 ½ tsp cumin seeds
½ - 1 tsp pasilla chile powder (or ancho)
salt
1 large tomato, chopped
1 small can of diced chiles
1 T diced pimentos
½ cup Pace hot picante sauce
1 can of black beans
Mexican Rice (optional)
Lettuce, rinsed, dried and cut into pieces for a salad
Avocados (optional)
Olives (optional)
Cheese (optional)
Additional salsa (optional)

Heat a large skillet and add 1 T olive oil. When hot, add the onions and cumin seeds and sauté for about five minutes. Add garlic, chile powder, salt. Sauté for a couple of minutes. Push the onion and garlic to one side and add the additional 1 T of olive oil. Let heat for a minute or so. Add the ground turkey. Break up with a wooden spatula. Sauté, stirring frequently. When the meat is about half cooked, add the tomato, canned chiles, picante sauce and pimentos. Sauté until the meat is cooked through. Taste and adjust spices.

While that is cooking, drain the beans (reserve some of the liquid) and heat through. When heated, mash with a potato masher. Add liquid if needed to make a nice paste.

If you have any Mexican Rice, heat that. I’m still working on a recipe for that, but I improved my last attempt by adding more Pace Picante to it.

To assemble, scoop beans onto a plate, top with rice, add turkey mixture, surround with lettuce. Garnish with cheese, avocados, additional salsa, as you like.

Mexican Rice (work in progress)

1 cup long grain white rice
2 Cups water
1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large tomato, diced
1 T cumin seeds
1 T coriander seeds
1 tsp salt
1 T olive oil
½ cup corn (optional)

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil. When hot, add the onion and sauté for about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for another minute. In the mean time, toast the cumin seeds and coriander seeds in a dry skill. When toasty and fragrant, cool slightly and run through a spice mill until powdered. Add to the onions and garlic.

Add the rice to the onions and garlic, sauté for a minute until it glistens with oil (you might need to add a bit more oil to the pan). Add the two cups water and bring to a boil. When nearly all the water is absorbed, about 10 minutes, add the tomato. Cook until all the water is absorbed, total 15-20 minutes. Add salt, ½ tsp at a time, check seasonings.

Mine has been too bland (but last time I made it I forgot the garlic and didn’t toast the cumin or add the coriander, that might have had something to do with it).

Pace Hot Picante sauce can fix this if it’s not to your liking.