$5,000 Dressing & Taco Salad

  Posted on April 4, 2011  by Leslie Blythe  No comments

Not-exactly-Mexican Mexican Food

Mary Melton wrote an article in Los Angeles magazine about her love of not-exactly-Mexican Mexican food. “We kids ate a diet heavy on Cal-Tex-Mex—gringo-ized versions of tacos and enchiladas accompanied by chile con queso dip and rice cooked in tomato sauce. I learned early on how to prep a vat of “taco salad”: shredded iceberg lettuce, a can of drained pintos, grated Monterey Jack, diced avocado, tomato, and onion. It was my cherished job to smash a bag of tortilla chips and dump the shards into the bowl before dousing the contents with Thousand Island dressing and stirring it with a wooden spoon.”

Lori McCaffery of Burbank, California responded to her article – “I enjoyed Mary Melton’s article –but Thousand Island dressing on a taco salad? I’m famous for my taco salad, and I use a dressing recipe that was given to me by a friend about 30 years ago. It’s called $5,000 Dressing. Supposedly a restaurant gave a patron its wonderful house dressing recipe and then sent a bill for $5,000. (I wonder if it was ever paid.) For the taco salad, you can add more of this and less of that to suit your taste. I’ve never served it to anyone who didn’t ask for seconds.”

$5,000 Dressing

¼ cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dried mustard
½ tsp pepper
1/3 to ½ cup vinegar
¼ cup lemon juice
1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
3 Tbs dried minced onion
1 cup canola oil
1 cup ketchup

Combine all ingredients in a jar and shake well.

Taco Salad

Serves 8

I head of lettuce
2 to 3 tomatoes, chopped
1 bunch green onions, chopped
2 avocados, cut into bite size pieces
½ cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
½ cup jack cheese, grated
½ to ¾ of a bag of Doritos Nacho Cheese chips, slightly crushed
1 lb ground beef
1 pkg taco seasoning mix

Combine the first seven ingredients in a bowl.  Cook the ground beef with to taco seasoning and add it to the bowl.  Serve immediately with the dressing on the side.