Taco Salad with Cauliflower and Ground Turkey

Sneak More Veggies Into Your Meals

Hungry for a taco salad yesterday, I decided to make my own.  Once I started cooking the ground turkey, the head of cauliflower in the fridge was calling out to me.  It is a natural to add to ground meat anytime you are cooking it, and is especially tasty with taco seasoning!  With the spicy flavor, it is still another way to add more veggies to your meals.  I bet you won’t even notice it is there.

The key is to chop it into small pieces, not grated, but smaller than bite size.  You can see in the photo below a good size.

Other than that, you can add whatever you like.  Any combination of lettuce, definitely some spinach, diced tomatoes, sliced olives, onion.  Peppers, mushroom, and zucchini would be good in a taco salad too, raw or cooked.

Vegetarian?  I think you could use ALL cauliflower for this recipe and enjoy every bite.  Cooked lightly in the taco seasoning it would have that wonderful flavor along with a great texture. I’ll be trying mine that way next time.

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Taco Salad with Cauliflower and Ground Turkey

Serves: 3 to 4

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• ½ pound ground turkey
• 1 clove garlic, finely diced
• 2 cups chopped cauliflower
• 1 cup chopped spinach
• 2 to 3 cups lettuce, torn for salad
• 2 to 3 cups raw spinach, whole
• cilantro, chopped (optional)
• 1 medium onion, chopped and divided
• 1 package taco seasoning
• ½ cup sliced olives
• 1 cup tomatoes, cut in ½ to 1 inch bites
• ¼ cup shredded cheese
• salt and pepper
• salsa
• tortilla chips

Instructions

1. Heat oil in a large skillet.
2. Saute the garlic for 1 to 2 minutes, then add the ground meat.
3. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Cook while breaking up meat until no longer pink and most of liquid is gone.
5. Add about ½ of chopped onion and the cauliflower.
6. After 2 to 3 minutes stir in taco seasoning and spinach.
7. Let that cook just until cauliflower has softened, about 2 minutes.
8. Plate lettuce, add a scoop of meat mixture in the center, then decorate with vegetables.
9. Top with cheese.
10. Serve with salsa chips, whole or broken up onto the salad.

3.3.3077

Taco Salad with Cauliflower and Ground Turkey

The Ninja Master Prep Professional

If you want to save time, I highly recommend the Ninja.  If you haven’t seen my review of this fantastic blender/food processor/chopper, you can read it here.

I’ve tried to take photos of everything I’ve done with mine.  It still has not disappointed me.  I tried the old style blender and found it wouldn’t even blend an icy drink.  So I returned it and bought this one instead.   What a remarkable–and impressive–surprise. I’m not sure if it is because of the top mount motor, or perhaps the double blades, but it works phenomenally.  It is so fast, the first several times I used it, the vegetables were chopped too small–in seconds.  I love mine more than ever after two years now.

Ninja Master Prep Professional (QB1004)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Merry Citarella, often writing as Merrci, writes on a wide range of topics. Recently relocated to the Oregon Coast in the northwest United States, she frequently writes travel features on the beautiful Pacific Northwest. She specializes in health and aging, Alzheimer’s Disease, food, lifestyle, and book reviews. For more information you can see her on The Writers’Door. You can read more articles here or at her websites Mystery Suspense Reviews .