Delicious Reading: �Emily Bites� and Doritos Taco Salad

Is anyone else�s air conditioning having trouble keeping up with the heat and humidity of this Missouri summer? I try to do everything I can to not add any extra warmth to the house during the day: we draw the shades, I don�t run the dryer and I try to use the stove as little as possible. See you in September, Oven.

Brooke Clubbs

It was when I was looking for a main dish salad that would require little preparation that I discovered the blog �Emily Bites.�

This blog highlights �lightened-up comfort food� and was created out of the author�s attempts to follow the Weight Watchers� maxim, �If you bite it, write it.� In her quest to eat healthier, she began cooking more, and then started documenting it. She is very up-front about how she is a cook, not a chef, and just tries to makes things she likes to eat that she can feel good about eating. A fun feature of her blog: in addition to being able to look up recipes by type (such as salads, sandwiches, side dishes), you can also look them up by craving (such as �Buffalo flavor�) and number of Weight Watchers� points.

This Doritos Taco Salad is a great main dish salad that provides just enough snack chip flavor to satisfy cravings and enough lean protein and veggies to be a nutritious choice, at just 4 Weight Watchers� points per serving. It was amazing how the addition of �Doritos� to the title got even the members of my family who aren�t salad fans to the table, where they cleaned their plates.

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Doritos Taco Salad

Yield: 14 Cups

Ingredients:

1 pound 95 percent lean ground beef or ground turkey

1, 1.25-ounce packet reduced-sodium taco seasoning

1 medium-large head of iceberg lettuce, chopped into bite-sized pieces

1 medium-large tomato, diced

4 ounces 50 percent less fat or 2 percent sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

4 ounces Nacho Cheese Doritos, broken into bite-sized pieces

1 cup light Catalina or French dressing (such as Kraft Lite Catalina)

DIRECTIONS:

Brown the ground beef or turkey in a skillet over medium heat, breaking it up into pieces with a wooden spoon. Add the packet of taco seasoning and stir until well coated. Set aside.

In a large serving bowl, combine the lettuce, tomatoes, cheese and ground beef. When ready to serve, add the Doritos and dressing, and toss to coat.

Note: I also added a can of drained and rinsed black beans with the meat.