Paleo Chipotle Beef Taco Salad

I really LOVE the taste of chipotle so much.  A chipotle is really a smoked jalapeño pepper.  I would attempt them, but it sounded more complicated than I was actually willing to do.  It's much easier for me to buy this at the store, and from there, grind the dried pepper into a powder to use in food.

This salad was inspired by Paradise Cafe's Chipotle Caesar Chicken Salad, but mine is mostly Paleo friendly, as least much more than Paradise Cafe's.  I learned tonight that if I take a big stainless steel bowl, I can individually toss each person's salad specific to them.  Yay!

Tonight I was not in the mood to really cook.  Have a freezer full of meat, a frig full of veggies & fruit, a spice rack filled with spices . . . and I didn't know what to make.  Here is what I concocted tonight.  Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures of this, as I just didn't feel like it.  Just wanted to get dinner out for everyone.

Also, this is my own creation and for once I didn't borrow from someone else.  It turned out really great and all the kids loved it, well, 2 out of 3 were daring enough to try my chipotle dressing.  You really can add whatever ingredients for the salad you want, but I really wanted to stick with Paleo friendly (minus the cheese  - gotta have a little cheese) ingredients, so that nixes tortilla chips, black beans, and corn, which are usually 3 ingredients I would have.

Serves 6

Ingredients for Meat:

• 2 lbs ground beef or ground sirloin
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 3-4 Tbspns taco seasoning

Ingredients for Salad:

• 1 head of red leaf lettuce, torn into little pieces by hand
• 4 roma tomatoes, diced
• 1 bunch of green onions, sliced thinly
• 2 ripe avocados, sliced & dice
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 cup Chipotle Dressing

Directions:

• Saute yellow onion for 2-3 min. on medium high heat in a large non-stick pan.  If not non-stick, add some olive oil (not extra virgin olive oil), heat and saute onions until almost translucent.
• Add ground beef, crumbling it as you put it into the pan.  Cook on medium high heat until there is no pink left.
• Add taco seasoning.
• Cover.  Reduce heat to simmer.
• Drain fat from meat.
• Toss all salad ingredients in a big stainless steel bowl as per individual preference, add meat.  Make sure all of salad is coated with the chipotle dressing.
• Serve in a large bowl.