Taco Salads with Creamy Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette

I LOVE taco salads. The kinds made with soft tortillas and not the fried kind. We love the wheat tortillas that you cook yourself, but now that we're transitioning to a wheat free household, I went without a tortilla. And honestly I really didn't miss the tortilla. It just left more room in my bowl for all the delicious fixings. 

A couple years ago I came up with a great recipe for a cilantro lime vinaigrette that was similar to the one at Cafe Rio, but with significantly less oil. This time when I made it, I added a half of an avocado. Such a huge improvement! The avocado gave it a creamy consistency and emulsified the dressing. This will now be my go to taco salad dressing. =)

Over the summer, Tommy was having an issue with awful diapers and we finally figured out that he had developed allergies to peas and beef (in addition to all of his other allergies). He tested positive on the skin prick test, but it was a small welt. I can't remember if we had been giving him traditional beef or grass-fed beef. So we decided to try grass-fed beef again. So far it's going ok. The jury is still out.

Ben grew up on a cattle ranch. His dad raises the most delicious beef ever. I really hope that Tommy is able to eat beef. If not now, then hopefully he'll outgrow this allergy soon. 

Lindsay's Taco Salads

Layer the ingredients in the following order:
Tortilla (Optional)
Cheese (Optional)
Some sort of seasoned meat
Sauteed Peppers and Onions
Lettuce
Avocado
Salsa
Creamy Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette

This time we used grass-fed beef seasoned with salt, pepper and smoked paprika. And I sauteed a red bell pepper with an onion in a little oil with pepper, dry minced garlic and some red pepper flakes. Fajita seasoning also works great. 

Creamy Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette

1 handful cilantro, large stems removed
1/2 half of an avocado
1 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp canola oil
3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
Juice of 1 lime

Combine all ingredients in a blender and process until smooth.

Sloppy Salad

Yesterday I didn't feel like going to the store, so I decided to make Sloppy Joes for dinner since I had a can of Sloppy Joe Sauce and extra buns from the weekend. Today I used the leftover meat in a salad for lunch. Disclaimer: this recipe isn't really Tommy safe. The prepared sauce has "spices" and "natural flavors", which may mean that it contains mustard. So no sauce for Tommy. But, it is dairy, gluten, rice and egg free. I bought a ton of tomato paste at a case lot sale recently, so in the future I'll make my own Sloppy Joe sauce that Tommy can eat too. Dinner last night was good, but this salad was delicious!  

Sloppy Salad

1/2 cup Sloppy Joe Meat

2 cups chopped lettuce

1/2 avocado, diced
Juice from 1/2 lime

1. If using leftovers, warm meat.

2. In a salad bowl or plate, layer lettuce, meat and avocado. 
3. Squeeze lime juice over the top. Enjoy!

Sloppy Joe Meat

1 lb ground turkey

1/2 large onion, diced

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1/2 bag coleslaw mix (just the vegetable mix, not the kind that has dressing)

1 can Manwich Sloppy Joe Sauce

1. In a large skillet, cook turkey, onion and pepper over medium heat.

2. Stir in remaining ingredients. Cook over medium low heat until the cabbage is wilted and the sauce warmed.

3. Serve on buns or use in Sloppy Salad

First Family Pizza Night (Avocado Arugula Pesto)

Tommy doesn't care much for the texture of avocados. But they’re so good for you and he’s not allergic to them. So I thought instead of giving him diced avocado, I would try and make a sort of avocado pesto. I’m using the term pesto pretty lightly since it doesn't actually contain any basil, nuts or cheese.

I made the Vegan Pizza Crust from The Essential Gluten-Free Baking Guide Part 1 by Brittany Angell and Iris Higgins. It uses millet flour and potato starch. I doubled the recipe and made two pizzas. One was a typical pizza with ground turkey, onions and red bell peppers. The second pizza I topped with my Avocado Arugula Pesto, ground turkey, onions and red bell peppers.

The typical pizza with tomato sauce was a big hit. And the pizza crust was delicious. It had a nice sort of corn flavor from the millet flour and it was easy to assemble.

The Avocado Arugula Pesto pizza was interesting. I liked it a lot more than Ben and Tommy did. It did have a nice bright flavor and the green color survived the baking. Give it a try if you love arugula and avocado and are looking for a little more of an adventurous pizza. I think the pesto would be great as a sandwich spread too.

Avocado Arugula Pesto

1 ripe avocado

2 cups arugula

2 Tbsp canola oil

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

½ tsp salt

Combine all ingredients in a blender and process until smooth.