Cilantro-Basil Dressing with Taco Salad

For the main course, I served a taco salad (fried tortillas, spring salad mix, black beans, grilled corn, chopped tomatoes, avocado chunks, shredded sharp cheddar cheese, sauteed onions and taco meat) that was topped with this delicious salad dressing. It has such a delightfully bright, tangy flavor that complimented the taco salad fixings really well. It's flavor is really versatile though so I think it would be great on just about any salad.

If you don't make taco salad very often (or at all), I would suggest it the next time you're in the mood for Mexican food. It has all the great flavors of Mexican food but it's much healthier and not as heavy as most Tex-Mex dishes. But it's still hearty enough that the man in your life will still feel full. You can easily tailor the salad to fit your tastes - use chicken, pork or beef fajita meat instead of taco meat; increase the amount of beans and cheese to make it a vegetarian meal; use different lettuces; substitute store-bought pico de gallo or guacamole for the chopped tomato and avocado to speed up the prep work; add some jicama for extra crunch; omit the fried tortilla shells to make it a lot healthier or substitute tortilla chips...the list could go on forever!

(I apologize for my crappy taco salad picture but it was the only one I had to post. I figure that a blurry picture is better than no picture at all!)

Cilantro-Basil Dressing

Fonda San Miguel Thirty Years of Food and Art cookbook

1/2 c apple cider vinegar

1/2 c vegetable oil

1/2 c olive oil

2 garlic cloves, peeled

1/2 c firmly packed cilantro leaves

1/2 c firmly packed basil leaves

1 1/2 t sugar

1/2 t ground black pepper

sea salt to taste

Combine all ingredients in a large blender and blend together for about 3 minutes, or until mixture is smooth. Refrigerate until ready to use. The mixture can be blended again if it separates. Makes 2 cups.

(I halved the recipe and still had lots left over.)