I recently had company over for lunch on a hot August summer day, and asked my friend Patti for a suggestion on what to serve, because it was too hot to even go outside and grill. She suggested I make her family favorite Taco Salad, so I did and it was a big hit. Patti doesn’t like me to variate from her recipes. I did it once and I’ll never hear the end of it. So I made it exactly to her specifications. So if you want to do it exactly, follow this recipe. It was delicious. See my notation below the ingredients below for added ingredients I made the second time around.

But it was quick, and easy, and everyone enjoyed having everything separate so they could add what they wanted to their salad.

Patti’s Taco Salad*

• large bag of salad
• pound to pound and half of hamburger meat;
• regular sized can of original Ranch Style Beans;
• container of cherry tomatoes;
• can of sliced black olives;
• bag of colby cheese or some type of shredded cheese you like;
• bag of original fritos…not the large scoop size but the small original size.

Brown the hamburger meat. . .I used pepper on mine while I’m browning,

Empty the beans into a colander and rinse them thoroughly . . . get all that juice and crap off of them.

• Put the salad in a bowl;
• Put the meat in a bowl;
• Put the beans in a bowl;
• Put the tomatoes in a bowl;
• Put the olives in a bowl;
• Put the cheese in a bowl;
• Open the bag of fritos — I usually empty it into a bowl because I have a bunch of cute bowls for all this stuff;
• Catalina dressing is the best one with this salad, but you should also have a back up dressing…usually Ranch.

This is a delicious meal and everyone can put what he or she want and don’t want on it.

Phyllis’ Version of Patti’s Taco Salad

• large bag of salad
• pound to pound and half of hamburger meat;
• regular sized can of original Ranch Style Beans;
• container of cherry tomatoes;
• can of sliced black olives;
• bag of colby cheese or some type of shredded cheese you like;
• bag of original fritos…not the large scoop size but the small original size.
• jar of sliced jalepenos;
• purple onion
• taco seasoning packet
• salsa

Brown the hamburger meat, add packet of taco seasoning for flavor.

Empty the beans into a colander and rinse them thoroughly . . . get all that juice and crap off of them.

• Put the salad in a bowl;
• Put the meat in a bowl;
• Put the beans in a bowl;
• Put the tomatoes in a bowl;
• Put the olives in a bowl;
• Put the cheese in a bowl;
• Put the jalepenos in a bowl;
• Put the chopped onion in a bowl;
• Open the bag of fritos — I usually empty it into a bowl because I have a bunch of cute bowls for all this stuff;
• Catalina dressing is the best one with this salad, but you should also have a back up dressing – I used Salsa.