Veggie Taco Salad With Southwestern Rice

If you’re a big fan of taco shells but just not happy about frying them – then you’ll love this recipe. These are small-sized flour tortillas. I used 4-inch ramekins, grease them with olive oil, and pressed the flour tortillas into the pans making sure they were tucked all the way down and baked. Whoala! Perfect taco shell without deep frying.

Prep Your Ramekins

Prepare 6 ramekins by brushing them with olive oil. Make sure you brush all around bottom and sides of the pans. Press the flour tortilla down tightly so they will not rise up when baking. And you’ll have a nice shaped taco shell. 

Set the taco shells aside. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and line a baking pan with parchment paper. Arrange the chopped-up vegetables onto the pan, drizzle with oil, and season with salt and pepper. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the vegetables are soft.

Start assembling your taco salad

Make the Southwestern rice. I used 2 cups of cooked brown rice, you can use white rice if you like. Heat a skillet with oil, and add rice, smoked paprika, garlic powder, lime juice, tomato paste, salt, and pepper. Stir to mix, and cook until the rice is well heated.

Assemble your taco salad. Place the rice on the taco shell first, then the shredded romaine lettuce, followed by roasted shredded romaine lettuce, veggies, and avocado. Squeeze lime and garnish with cilantro.

Recipe for the Southwestern Rice:

Jen Paleracio

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Ingredients

  

• 2 cups cooked rice
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• Juice of one lime
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

 

• Heat a pan with oil. Add the rice, garlic powder, smoked paprika, tomato paste, salt, and pepper, stir to mix. 
• Cook the rice until well heated. Squeeze lime, stir to mix. Remove from the heat and set aside. 

Recipe for the taco shells:

Jen Paleracio

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Ingredients

  

• 6 flour tortillas
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease 6 four inch ramekins. Use a pastry brush and make sure to brush the bottoms and sides generously. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown. 

Recipe for Roasted vegetables:

Jen Paleracio

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Ingredients

  

• 1 large carrot, peeled and cubed
• 2 cups cauliflower, florets
• 1 large zucchini, sliced
• 1 red onion, sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, remove seeds, cubed
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• salt and pepper

Instructions

 

• Heat the oven to 375 degrees, line a baking pan with parchment paper. Arrange the vegetables, drizzle with oil, season with salt and pepper. Toss to coat well. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until tender. 

Assemble your taco salad:

Place the rice on the prepared taco shells, and add the roasted veggies. Add shredded romaine lettuce, chopped cilantro, and diced avocado on top to finish the salad. Squeeze more lime before serving if you like.

For more protein for vegetarians, you can add a cup of black beans or garbanzo beans.

Homemade Taco Seasoning:

For more protein, you can add any meat you like. You can grill your chicken, or cook your ground turkey breast and use homemade taco seasoning.

1 tablespoon paprika

1 tablespoon oregano

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon onion powder

2 teaspoons cumin

2 tablespoons chili powder

salt and pepper

Instructions:

Combine all spices, and place them in an airtight container or mason jar. Use about a tablespoon of the seasoning per pound of meat, or more. Adjust the seasoning to your desired taste.

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