Chorizo and Black Bean Taco Salad

Taco salad made with black beans, chorizo and spices.

I think that by now it is public knowledge that I love taco salad.  One night I was trying to get my husband to come up with an idea for dinner (for the next night).  I love cooking, but sometimes it's hard to always come up with ideas of what to make.  He actually requested tacos.  We didn't have tortillas or taco shells, but we had tortilla chips so that quickly changed to taco salad.  We didn't have any ground beef in the freezer, so I would need to pick some up at the store, then I remembered I had 1/2 pound of frozen home made chorizo.  I knew that 1/2 pound of meat wasn't going to be enough so I also added black beans.  The black beans were already cooked and stored in the freezer for times like these (canned black beans would work too).  With chorizo and black beans as my base ingredients I made taco salad for dinner and it was delicious.

Chorizo and Black Bean Taco Salad

Ingredients:

1/2 lb chorizo
1 onion, chopped
2 cups black beans
1/2-1 cup salsa
1 Tbsp paprika
1 Tbsp garlic powder
Hot sauce to taste, optional
salt and pepper to taste
Tortilla chips
lettuce
toppings of your choice (cheese, cilantro, tomatoes, jalapenos....)

In a large skillet, over medium heat, cook the chorizo.  You can drain off the grease if you want, but I kept it for the flavor.  When chorizo is mostly cooked add the onions (with some salt) and saute until soft and translucent (if you drain off the chorizo grease add a little oil).

Then add the, thawed, black beans and mix until combined (my black beans are unsalted so I added some salt with them). Then add the salsa, paprika, and garlic powder.

Stir to combine and reduce heat to low and let simmer for about 10 minutes. Add salt, pepper, and hot sauce to taste.

Makes 4 servings.  Serve atop tortilla chips with lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, carrots, cilantro, jalapenos, and/or your favorite toppings.

Enjoy.

Linked to:  Empty Your Archive, Saturday Dishes Tex Mex