Last Saturday, I treated myself to another Hardee's Taco Salad. Yes. I know. When will I ever learn? No time soon, I fear. When I got my Taco Salad home and opened it up, I was not pleased. I'm sure that comes as a big surprise to you. NOT.
You gotta hand it to those Taco Salad makers. Just when you think they've run out of ways to mess up your Taco Salad... you discover that they have not. I'm sure that waxed paper was quite flavorful with its coating of sour cream, but I did not give it a taste test. I took my taco salad out of the box, took it off the waxed paper, and noticed a LOT of lettuce again. The limp lettuce. It almost looked like parsley this time, only bigger.
Again, like unraveling a sweater, by pulling out a strand of lettuce, it led to more lettuce, which led to MORE lettuce... until I had removed all the limp lettuce from my Taco Salad:
That's way too much limp lettuce in my Taco Salad! So... I chopped up some romaine lettuce, using the crispy parts, and rebuilt my Taco Salad. Adding more shredded cheddar, and a plentiful amount of sour cream. It was delicious!
I would make my own taco salads at home, if only I could find those delicious crispy shells! But wait! I DID make taco salads for myself and Farmer H a few days later. Just to see how they'd turn out.
Farmer H wanted a Frito Taco Salad. Kind of like the Sonic Frito Chili Pie. Only with taco meat and salsa instead of chili.
I started with my Chinese Tupperware. Put down a layer of story-brand Fritos. Then the hamburger cooked with taco seasoning. Then diced onion. Then shredded cheddar. Then chopped romaine. Then salsa. That's the order he asked for his ingredient layers. Farmer H loved it. The second night, he asked for a little more salsa.
I went for a regular taco salad. With no crunch, I put a flour tortilla on the bottom of the plate. Put on a layer of refried beans. Then the hamburger with taco seasoning. I sprinkled in some Franks Original Red Hot Sauce. Then diced onions. Chopped romaine. Shredded cheddar. Salsa. Sour cream. IT WAS DELICIOUS!
I had some triangle-shaped tortilla chips on the side, for crunch. It's not quite the same taste, without the shell, and with regular hamburger instead of that fine-grained meat product used by Hardee's, but it is certainly less infuriating to sit down with it on my plate.
3 comments:
So you threw away all that lovely leafy green lettuce which looks like the perfect amount to me and I would have eaten the lot.
Do you use the leafy parts when you make your own very edible taco salad at home or just the crunchier stem parts?
And why not make your own all the time since it is clearly the better option?
Check this link out:
https://www.amazon.com/Rio-Rancho-Tostada-Bowls-4-Count/dp/B008MVE8P2/ref=sr_1_19?crid=X1I5MDIVHVOD&dchild=1&keywords=taco+shell+bowls&qid=1635043003&sprefix=taco+shell+bowls%2Caps%2C220&sr=8-19
They also have for sale the molds that you can use to make your own taco salad bowls.
You should not have to add all those ingredients to something you ordered from a restaurant. However, after looking at your salad, I guess the term "restaurant" is being used loosely.
River,
Yes, I threw away that limp, grassy-tasting lettuce that sticks to the roof of my mouth and doesn't so much get chewed up as mashed into a ball of limp grassy-tasting lettuce.
I do, in fact, cut off the leafy ends of my hearts of romaine, and they're usually less limp than this example from the taco salad. I much prefer the crunchy stem parts!
If I feel going to the trouble of buying the hamburger, and frying it, and getting rid of the grease, and mixing in the sauce, then washing up the pan... I'll make it at home. I miss the crunchy shell, but the taste is great if I want to make the effort.
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Sioux,
I took a look, but the shells seem to be made of tortilla stuff. Not that delicious crunchy shell that I can't compare to anything else. Not a corn or flour tortilla, not a fancy restaurant chip. I think someone should send it to a lab to be analyzed! Pretty sure LARD will be a main ingredient.
I've seen those bowls where you can bake your own tortilla to get the ridges. I'll go with my soft tortilla on the bottom, to hold the refried beans, and keep juices from running all over my plate.
Hardee's used to use shredded lettuce, probably iceberg, in their Taco Salads, and it was just fine. I'm not a leafy lettuce fan.
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