Taco Salad (Birthday re-post)

A re-post of my favorite birthday dinner.  Spicy meat (and beans) atop a bed of lettuce and tortilla chips finished with carrots, cheese, and salsa.

 

Click picture to go to recipe

I'm turning 30 today.  I know a lot of people who freak out about their 30th birthday, but I'm not one of those people.  I don't feel old, and 30 isn't really even old.  I'm not in my 20s anymore, but I haven't changed too much.  I can always feel a little better because I'm the youngest in my family so I will always be younger than my sisters :)

My post for today is a re-post of Taco Salad.  This has been my traditional birthday dinner for as long as I can remember.  I have always loved taco salad.  When I was younger we made it with packaged taco seasoning and had it over cool ranch Doritos.  I never liked lettuce in my taco salad then.  I only had chips, meat, and cheese.  Now that I'm older and care more about my nutrition I load my taco salad with plenty of vegetables and even beans.  I even like it better this way now (I guess my tastes have changed as I've gotten older).  I still enjoy the treat of using cool ranch Doritos occasionally, but plain tortilla chips are just fine most of the time (and usually less expensive).

I have also realized that everyone has a specific way to build their taco salad.  I do lettuce, chips, meat, miscellaneous veggies, and cheese on top. My husband will do chips, cheese, meat, and veggies and lettuce on top.  I've even known people to put the chips on top of everything else.  The funny thing is that few people are happy if someone else makes their salad and layers it wrong.  The best way to serve taco salad is to have everything in separate containers and let each person build their own salad.

Enjoy the re-post.