Taco Salad

Steven's recipe

Ingredients:

1 lb hamburger or chopped steak
1 small white or yellow onion (alternatively only 1/2 onion)
1 bell pepper (green, red or yellow as desired)
1 jalapeno pepper
1 can kidney beans (alternatively could use black/pinto beans)
meat seasonings - these are always random for me and vary to taste - they can include garlic, salt, black pepper, chili pepper, cumin, hot chili pepper, and my "secret ingredient"
salsa
vinegar, oil & lemon juice OR Italian dressing (low or non-fat can actually work here)
corn chips
salad greens
shredded cheese - cheddar, cheddar-jack, or Mexican blend

Cook the meat in a pan - seasoning as it cooks.

The jalapeno pepper can be diced an added to the meat while it cooks or it can be added to the vegetables below. For low spice, remove the seeds and inner flesh, for medium, dice the jalapeno, insides and all. For high spice, use two - one in the meat, on in the vegetables.

Drain the meat and remove from the pan. Drain the pan and remove the molten fat, but leave the pan "greased" by the remnants.

Chop the vegetables and "sauté" in the pan. Use the minimal meat fat left on the surface of the pan to sauté, do not add any butter or oil.

Once the vegetables are sautéed, add the meat (and jalapeno) and the kidney beans to the vegetables. Heat, stirring, only until all ingredients are warm then remove from heat.

In a small container, create a vinegar & oil dressing with the vinegar, oil and lime juice. (Alternately use Italian dressing.) Add salsa to the dressing to taste.

On a plate, crumble a thin layer of corn chips. Place salad greens on top of the chips. Add grated cheese on top of the salad greens. Top with the dressing/salsa mixture.