Mexican Salad Recipe

Here's a simple salad with a Mexican twist.

• 1 Large Head of Lettuce
• 2 Large Tomatoes
• 1/2 to 1 cup of finely chopped onion
• 2 Cups of Grated Cheese
• 1  fifteen oz. can of Ranch Style Beans (Drained and Washed)
• 1 Medium-sized bag of Fritos
• 1 lb. meat, ground or shredded is best (cooked and drained really well)
• about 8 oz. dressing (recipe follows)

Toss all ingredients except Fritos, meat, and dressing together and refrigerate.  Just before serving, add the dressing, meat, and chips.

Toss well and serve.  Enjoy!

Salad Dressing:

To make the dressing, mix together the following ingredients.

• 1/2-cup tomato sauce (or paste and use a bit more liquid)

• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar

• 2 Tbsp. cider or malt vinegar (or lemon juice if you like that taste)

• 1/2-tsp salt

• 1/4 tsp minced or powdered garlic

• heavy dash (a pinch, ~1/16 tsp) ground allspice

• heavy dash (a pinch, ~1/16 tsp) ground cloves

• heavy dash (a pinch, ~1/16 tsp) ground mace

• heavy dash (a pinch, ~1/16 tsp) tsp ground mustard

• heavy dash (a pinch, ~1/16 tsp) ground cinnamon

The preceding is the basic recipe for catsup (or ketchup if you prefer).  For those suffering from sever advanced culinary deficiency, you can use a cup of catsup (or ketchup) instead.

To the tomato dressing base, described above, add:

• 1/4-cup sugar

• 1/4-cup cider or malt vinegar

• 1-tsp salt

• 1-small onion, chopped

• 1/2-tsp celery seed

• 1/4-tsp paprika

• 1/2 seeded jalapeño (pronounced hä´le-pân¹yo) pepper

• 3/4-cup of salad oil (olive, safflower, or sunflower oil is recommended)

The jalapeño pepper should be washed and seeded.  Be aware that they can be very hot.  However they will vary with age, where grown, time-of-year, and most importantly, how "hot" you like things.  I use a whole one, but we're used to the bite.

Put all of the preceding ingredients into a blender and blend on high for about 30-seconds.  And voila!  Real Mexican salad dressing.  The culinary clueless may purchase an 8-ounce bottle of Catalina dressing instead.  Add a few drops of Tabasco or other hot sauce to give it some zip.

NB:  Yes, I could have included the extra ingredients with the tomato dressing base.  But I wanted to highlight how easy it was to make catsup (ketchup), and how easily it's extended for other purposes.