This is nacho’ average taco salad.

Nuh-uh.

You know when you go to a Mexican restaurant and you order a taco salad and what comes out is more of a tac-uh-oh salad? Ya know, some sad iceberg lettuce, a greasy shell, and a blob of sour cream?  No thank you, señorita.

Tonight I had a moment. I had all the essential for taco night in my fridge.  I pretty much never make taco-ish things…but there was an avocado dying in the crisper and an unopened bag of corn tortillas.  When life gives you lemons….

If you have a Trader Joe’s near you, I highly HIGHLY highly recommend you go purchase the following: frozen sliced bell peppers, cuban style black beans and corn tortillas.

Do you want to know the best 98 cents I’ve ever spent?

Well I’m gonna tell you anyway.  These bad boys.

I sliced them into chip shapes, put ’em on a baking sheet, sprinkled ’em with sea salt, baked ’em at 400 degrees for 10 minutes and OHMYGAWD they were the crispiest crunchiest darn chips ever.  I’m not talking like sweet potato fries crispy (AKA not really crispy at all).  I’m talking downright crunchy enough that I had to keep my chewing at a minimum as to not disturb the neighbors.

That crunchy. It was serious.

These made seasoning a snap since they come all spiced with everything nice as is, but you could also use plain black beans and add some cumin and garlic or any Mexican seasonings of your choice.

If you happen to make the chips and spicy avocado cream first and get a little distracted by the deliciousness, I can’t say I’d blame you.

I really hope you have some smoked chipotle Tobasco sauce laying around, if you haven’t snagged one from Chipotle yet that is….. (joke, I’ve never actually done that).

Taco Salad Remix with Spicy Avocado Cream

-serves 2-3

Sweet Potatoes:

• 2 sweet potatoes, washed and cubed
• cooking spray
• sea salt, smoked paprika, cumin, chipotle chili pepper to taste

Tortilla Chips:

• 4 corn tortillas
• sea salt

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.  Slice tortillas into chip shapes.  Place in a single layer on a baking sheet (don’t let the edges touch!)  Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until crispy.

Onions, Peppers and Beans:

• 1/2 medium onion, sliced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 cups sliced bell peppers
• 1 can black beans, drained
• salt and pepper to taste

In a medium skillet over medium heat, sautee onions for about 8 minutes, stirring frequently, until lightly browned.  Add in garlic and sautee for a couple more minutes.  Add in bell peppers and cook until heated through.  Add in drained beans and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Spicy Avocado Cream:

• 1/2 avocado
• heaping 1/4 cup greek yogurt
• 1-2 tsp smoked chipotle Tabasco sauce
• 1-2 tbsp water to thin out
• 1/2 tsp lemon juice (optional)
• 1/2 tsp sea salt

Combine all ingredients in a food proccesor/blender.

Salad Assembly:

Place a bed of chopped romaine on a large plate.  Place chips around edge of salad.  Top with bean mixture, sweet potatoes and avocado cream.  Garnish with cheese if you’d like!

I honestly was beyond excited to blog about this because it was so very simple yet so extremely delicious. It was on another level of serious.

I know the recipe looks a bit overwhelming, but it’s really all about multi-tasking.  I roasted the sweet potatoes while I worked out.  Then I threw the chips in and sauteed the veggies.  It came together pretty quickly!

Aaaaaand then clean up was a snip-snap and I ate a Kit-Kat and it was officially the best night ever.