When I was little, one of the staples in our house was taco salad. We lived in Nevada, so we had no concept of real Mexican food. I think Mom’s concoction consisted of iceberg lettuce, Nacho Cheese Doritos and ground beef cooked in Lawry’s Seasoning. Oh…and lots of cheese. She mixed it all in the same big yellow tupperware bowl my dad used for popcorn. Sometimes we’d add the chips ourselves, but usually she did it for us. The soggy chips were kind of part of the recipe. It was crazy fantastic.


Don’t be fooled…my Mom is a fantastic cook. It’s just that it was the 80’s and meals like this were kind of the thing. Remember curried chicken salad, tuna casserole and chow mein? Adding potato chips and little crunchy rice things with absolutely no nutritional value was just what you did. Or, was that the ’60’s? Geez…when did food get so good!?

But, I digress…
As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve been on the lookout for Summer salads and other fabulous sides to accompany grilled entrees.
I’ve gone through iteration after iteration of this salad, trying to get it just right. What it’s turned into is almost like a salsa with the chips already crumbled in.
A lot like Mom’s taco salad.
Hmm…I wonder how it would be with Nacho Cheese Doritos… *wink*

Crunchy Avocado Salad

I found this Bobby Flay recipe while browsing other grill recipes. The first time I tried it, it wasn’t quite right. We could tell it had potential, but it just wasn’t there yet, you know?
The biggest problem, I discovered, was that I used white wine vinegar instead of champagne vinegar. There really is a difference. It was also missing something…
Black beans (or beans of any sort, really).
Adapted from Bobby Flay
2 ripe avocados, peeled, pitted and diced
2 ripe beefsteak tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives, roughly chopped (Bobby recommends nicoise, but I think Kalamatas give this a delicious saltiness.)
1 cup canned chickpeas, drained, rinsed and drained again (The rinsing is important to get rid of that vinegary taste canned chickpeas can have.)
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 tablespoons roughly torn flat-leaf parsley
1/4 cup champagne vinegar
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 ounces corn tortilla chips
Preparation:
Gently toss the avocados, tomatoes, olives, chickpeas, black beans, parsley, vinegar, olive oil, cumin, paprika, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Crumble the chips over the top and serve.