Turkey Taco Salad with Roasted Tomato Salsa

Whether it's your boyfriend, your partner, your children, or your roommates when it comes to dinner it is a challenge if you are on a clean eating plan and your partner(s) in crime are not. Especially if you are the one responsible for his/her nutritional needs.

Here are my tips to make double duty dinners that satisfy both your commitment to clean healthy eating and your obligation to feed someone that want's a bit more.

First and foremost remember this: You make the decision about what food goes in your mouth. No one else. It doesn't matter if the person sitting next to you is eating an entire cow, if it doesn't fit into your deep desire to be fit, strong, lean, healthy, and happy then it is not worth it.

Rather than thinking you need to prepare two completely separate meals think about how you can add elements to your uber-healthy-clean-eating-makin'- Abra- proud meal to satisfy your partner that isn't on your specific plan.

For instance, (and just for the record I do this nearly every night of the week) Take my Wild Salmon Cakes, I love them as is, with a big serving of sautéed greens and my yummy yogurt dipping sauce. But my BF has a big appetite and will scoff at that. So I make him 2 (or sometimes 3) Salmon Sliders, on an organic whole grain roll, topped with pickles and cheese and arugula and my yummy yogurt dipping sauce. He is satisfied (he still eats the greens) and I am perfectly happy too!

Or just the other night he asked if I would make the cover recipe from Bon Appetite, a fried chicken sandwich.

Well, that is not exactly on my plan and as delicious as it looked I thought I can make this work for both of us:

So with 2 organic chicken breasts I followed the recipe exactly for his and coated mine in almond flour and seasoning and popped it in the oven. I then made the slaw (The Slaw is The Law the article said!) Which was certainly healthy enough, and made the spicy mayo with greek yogurt instead of mayo.

I fried his chicken up (and got a nasty burn on my finger, why oh why was this healthy girl trying to fry??) and piled his sandwhich high on a bun I purchased from the bakery across the street.

I ate my chicken with the spicy mayo, slaw, and a whole grain version of his role.

Voila. Dinner. We were both happy and I was healthy.

Make sense? You can still play with flavors you love and shift enough to make it follow your plan while adding in dinner elements to satisfy your clan.

And last week we had taco night, but I wasn't into the crunchy corn tortilla shells or some of the less health supportive toppings. Recipe below is for a Turkey Taco Salad, this is how I ate it. My BF got the shells and all of my salad components on the side to load his taco. He made the guacamole (of which he ate nearly the entire bowl!) and I relished in the crazy deliciousness of all the flavors together.

I didn't eat the genetically modified taco shell, or the big dollops of sour cream, but just so we are clear there was absolutely no deprivation in this dinner. It was all around happiness for the two of us at our little dinner table, sharing our day and enjoying our respective dinners.

Turkey Taco Salad with Roasted Tomato Salsa

Servings: 4

Calories: 371 kcal

Author: Abra Pappa

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Ingredients

Roasted Tomato Salsa

• 1 pint of organic grape tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper
• 1/2 cup of cilantro, chopped
• 1/4 cup of red onion, chopped
• 1 small jalapeno, seeded and chopped
• a juice of 1/2 lime

Turkey Taco Mixture

• 1 pound of organic ground white turkey
• 1 medium white onion, chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 tablespoons of chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper
• 1 chipotle pepper in adobo, chopped fine

Salad

• 4 raw kale leaves, shredded
• 2 cups of red cabbage, shredded
• 8 cups of romaine leaves, shredded
• 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
• a juice of 1 lime
• 1 teaspoon of garlic powder
• salt and pepper to taste
• scoop of guacamole, optional

Instructions

Roasted Tomato Salsa:

1. Preheat oven to 425

2. In a small baking dish toss grape tomatoes with 1 Tbsp olive oil, garlic powder, salt and pepper.

3. Roast for 15-20 minutes until tomatoes burst open

4. Allow to cool for 10 minutes

5. Mix tomatoes with cilantro, jalapeño, onion, additional olive oil, lime juice, salt and pepper

6. Set aside

Turkey Mix:

1. Meanwhile in a large skillet over medium heat, saute onion and garlic in olive oil until onion is translucent (about 4 minutes)

2. Add turkey meat to pan, breaking up with a wooden spoon brown meat for 3 minutes, until the majority of pink has disappeared

3. Add chili powder, salt, pepper, chipotle, and 1/4 cup water

4. Stir well and allow to simmer over low heat for 5 minutes. Be cautious to not overcook the turkey meat or it will become very dry.

Putting It All Together:

1. In a large salad bowl combine kale, romaine, and red cabbage. Toss with olive oil, lime juice, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Massage dressing into leaves and allow to sit for a few minutes (this will help the kale break down and become softer)

2. Top salad with ground turkey, a scoop of roasted tomato salsa, and a scoop of guacamole (optional but DELICIOUS!)

Recipe Notes

This is another recipe where you can let your creativity run wild. If you don’t like the idea of kale in the salad don’t tell me but eliminate it. Play a bit and see what veggies you can add to it that will make you sing.

Nutrition Facts

Turkey Taco Salad with Roasted Tomato Salsa

Amount Per Serving

Calories 371 Calories from Fat 162

% Daily Value*

Fat 18g28%

Saturated Fat 2g13%

Cholesterol 62mg21%

Sodium 511mg22%

Potassium 1376mg39%

Carbohydrates 23g8%

Fiber 6g25%

Sugar 8g9%

Protein 33g66%

Vitamin A 16520IU330%

Vitamin C 122.3mg148%

Calcium 172mg17%

Iron 3.9mg22%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.