Welcome to Friday at the fire station! I thought it would be fun on Fridays, as much as I can, to post about something that has anything to do with well, the fire station! It may be a recipe, fun fact, or just a few pictures. I hope you will want to check it out!
Today I thought I would start with Taco Salad. This isn’t just any taco salad that you make from left over taco night, this is taco salad with a purpose!! My fireman said that in his department on any given shift, on any given day, taco salad is probably being made in at least half or more of all the stations. And he works for a big department! It is kind of one of their go-to staples. At his particular station he said they eat it most every shift for lunch. So he will have the fun of eating it two days in a row this week because that is what I made for lunch yesterday and he also ate it at the station! The first time I tried this it was amazing!! My husband so graciously passed the recipe on to me and I hope you like it too!
Here is what you start with:
Add the ground turkey (or ground beef) and chorizo to a large skillet over medium high heat. Stir it around and get it all scrambled up.
Chop up your onion and throw that on in.
Add your chili powder, oregano, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, and ground cumin and get everything all stirred up.
When your meat is all cooked through, drain off the fat, and add in the diced green chilis. At this point you can add some salt and pepper to taste and add any more seasoning if needed. If you choose to not use chorizo and just use 2 lbs of ground turkey, or 2 lbs of ground beef, you may need to add in more of the seasonings. The chorizo adds such good flavor on its own so without it you will probably need to compensate for it.
***Now I must make a disclaimer. The next step for this taco salad I did not actually make. I will add it in here so you know the true authentic fire station way to make this salad if you so choose. The missing ingredients are beans. As in a can of black beans, kidney beans, pinto beans, and white beans. Beans are outlawed from my house. My husband proudly said again yesterday as I was making this, “we are a bean free house!” Years ago, when my husband and I were high school friends, not even dating yet I don’t think???, he discovered that I also really did not like beans very much. At that point he knew I was the girl for him! I actually can’t think of any other foods he really dislikes besides beans and peas? So needless to say, when this is being made at the fire station, my husband usually offers to cook the meat so he can pull out some meat mixture for himself before the beans are added to the mix.
Okay back to taco salad. If you so choose to add in the beans, go ahead and rinse and drain them, and then add them into the skillet and stir them up.
Next, go ahead and prep all your salad fixin’s. Chop up your lettuce, cilantro, green onions, dice your tomatoes and avocado, and shred your cheese. Put them in their own bowls for assembly.
Open up these babies! You can use regular, ranch, or my favorite the chili cheese!
Get all the ingredients for the dressing together which includes, Ranch, sour cream, Cholula, and El Pato- or duck sauce, as my husband calls it!
Now, fire station style for serving is to line everything down the table so they can start at one end and work their way down. Of course putting everything out on your counter at home would work fine too!
Start with Fritos.
Add your meat and then your cheese.
Add your lettuce and all the other fixings. For the dressing I just put a little sour cream on the side and the squirted on a little ranch and then drizzled on a little of the Cholula and El Pato. They don’t add much heat when you add a little, just really good flavor.
Mix it on up and get ready to dive into salad yumminess!
Fire Station Taco Salad
Ingredients
1 pound ground turkey or beef (*I usually use the ground turkey from Costco that come in a 4 pack and they are each just over a pound)
1 pound chorizo
1/2 of a white onion chopped
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 (7 oz can) diced green chilis
Salt and pepper to taste
1 can black beans rinsed and drained
1 can kidney beans rinsed and drained
1 can pinto beans rinsed and drained
1 can white beans rinsed and drained
Toppings and Dressing
1-2 heads of green leaf lettuce – washed and chopped
Fritos – regular, ranch, or chili cheese
1-2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 avocado – diced
3-4 tomatoes – diced
1 bunch of green onions – chopped
1 bunch of cilantro – chopped
Ranch Dressing
Sour Cream
1 can El Pato
Cholula
*toppings and dressing amounts can vary with personal preference and size of group
Instructions
- Add the ground turkey (or ground beef) and chorizo to a large skillet and cook over medium high heat. Stir it around and get it all scrambled up. Chop up your onion and throw that on in. Add in your chili powder, oregano, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, and ground cumin and get everything all stirred up. When your meat is all cooked through, drain off your fat, and return skillet to burner and turn down the heat and then add in the diced green chilis and beans if you choose to add them. Add some salt and pepper to taste, and any more seasonings if needed. If you choose to not use chorizo and just use 2 lbs of ground turkey, or 2 lbs of ground beef, you may need to add in more of the seasonings. The chorizo adds such good flavor on its own so without it you will probably need to compensate for it.
- Chop up your lettuce, cilantro, green onions, dice your tomatoes and avocado, and shred your cheese. Put them in their own bowls for assembly.
- For assembly start with Fritos, then meat, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, green onions, and cilantro. For the dressing put on a dollop of sour cream, squirt on a little ranch dressing, and then drizzle a little El Pato and Cholula on top.
- 1 pound ground turkey or beef (*I usually use the ground turkey from Costco that come in a 4 pack and they are each just over a pound)
- 1 pound chorizo
- ½ of a white onion chopped
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 (7 oz can) diced green chilis
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 can black beans rinsed and drained
- 1 can kidney beans rinsed and drained
- 1 can pinto beans rinsed and drained
- 1 can white beans rinsed and drained
- 1-2 heads of green leaf lettuce – washed and chopped
- Fritos – regular, ranch, or chili cheese
- 1-2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 avocado – diced
- 3-4 tomatoes – diced
- 1 bunch of green onions – chopped
- 1 bunch of cilantro – chopped
- Ranch Dressing
- Sour Cream
- 1 can El Pato
- Cholula
- Add the ground turkey (or ground beef) and chorizo to a large skillet and cook over medium high heat. Stir it around and get it all scrambled up.
- Chop up your onion and throw that on in.
- Add in your chili powder, oregano, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, and ground cumin and get everything all stirred up.
- When your meat is all cooked through, drain off your fat, and return skillet to burner and turn down the heat and then add in the diced green chilis and beans if you choose to add them.
- Add some salt and pepper to taste, and any more seasonings if needed. If you choose to not use chorizo and just use 2 lbs of ground turkey, or 2 lbs of ground beef, you may need to add in more of the seasonings. The chorizo adds such good flavor on its own so without it you will probably need to compensate for it.
- Chop up your lettuce, cilantro, green onions, dice your tomatoes and avocado, and shred your cheese. Put them in their own bowls for assembly.
- For assembly start with Fritos, then meat, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, green onions, and cilantro.
- For the dressing put on a dollop of sour cream, squirt on a little ranch dressing, and then drizzle a little El Pato and Cholula on top.
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