A taco salad that won't take toll on diet

While enjoying my lean lunch, a co-worker walked by with a delicious looking - and seemingly healthy - Taco Bell taco salad. My mouth watered as I studied the crisp golden bowl and heap of lettuce and tomatoes.

Curious about my co-worker's salad's fat and calories, I checked to see if Nutrition Action Health Letter had anything to say about the salad on its Web site. Here's the newsletter's take: "Taco Bell's Taco Salad with Salsa is a real doozy. It delivers 850 calories, 95 percent of a day's sodium, 80 percent of a day's fat, and 70 percent of a day's saturated fat."

The best thing the editors could say about the salad was that it wasn't the worst thing on Taco Bell's menu. Ouch.

Nutrition facts listed on Taco Bell's Web site confirmed the findings and added that the salad delivered 45 fat grams (11 saturated) and 1.5 trans fat grams, as well as 1,780 milligrams sodium. Double ouch.

There's no way to make a restaurant-made taco salad healthy thanks to its deep-fried tortilla bowl. That edible bowl served up half of that salad's 23 fat grams.

If I wanted to make my own salad I'd have to make my own bowl. So I gathered some taco salad recipes together, formulated a plan and procured the ingredients. I couldn't find any fresh corn tortillas large enough to use for a bowl, so I opted for flour tortillas. I also decided to mix my own taco seasoning so I could flavor my extra lean ground beef without any added salt.

Once home, I started with the tortilla bowls. I used small stainless steel mixing bowls to hold the bowl shape, but realized that home cooks may not have all the kitchen tools I have. I also got good results using a 3-inch ball of aluminum foil and draping the tortillas over the balls.

Salsa mixed with sour cream dresses most taco salads, but I didn't like the way that tasted. I made my flavorful fat-free, lower-calorie taco salad dressing with fat-free sour cream and mayonnaise and taco sauce; spiked with a little reduced-sugar ketchup.

To make the salad easier to put together, I went with canned sliced black olives (amazingly low in calories) and shredded 2-percent cheddar cheese. I sauteed onions and garlic in a little olive oil and then, for a flavor boost, added my seasonings, letting the flavor bloom in the hot pan before adding ground beef.

Black beans deliver big on flavor and fiber with very little fat, so I added those at the end. I tossed everything together in a large bowl and scooped it into the baked shells.

I wanted my taco salad to bring terrific flavor notes to the table and it did just that. The roasted seasoning added that oomph I was hoping for.

So how did my taco salad compare to "the Bell's"? My dinner-size salad served up nearly 260 fewer calories. And, that's just the start! I trimmed 28.7 fat grams and my version had no trans fat and less than half the amount of saturated fat.

My salad not only looks good, but keeps its visual promise of being healthy, too. Give it a try.

• Don Mauer welcomes questions, recipes and makeover requests for your favorite dishes. Address them to Don Mauer, Daily Herald Food section, P.O. Box 280, Arlington Heights, IL 60006 or don@theleanwizard.com.