Tex Mex Salad with Ground Beef
and spicy cumin broccoli / bell peppers / pepitas
This quick and easy weeknight salad is inspired by classic tacos with spiced ground beef, spicy roasted broccoli, and pepitas for crunch.
Smarts: Be sure to let the meat and broccoli cool slightly before assembling the salads. The hot ingredients can cause the lettuce to wilt.
Ingredients
- Cumin, ground - 3 tsp
- Chili powder - 2 tsp
- Salt - 1 tsp
- Coriander, ground - 1/2 tsp
- Oregano, ground - 1/2 tsp
- Black pepper - 1/2 tsp
- Garlic powder - 1/2 tsp
- Bell peppers, any color - 1, chopped
- Lettuce, romaine - 8 oz, chopped
- Oil, cooking - 1 Tbsp
- Beef, ground and lean - 1 lb
- Tex Mex Spice Mix (ingredients listed separately) - ~2 Tbsp
- Pepitas / pumpkin seeds - 1/4 cup
- Broccoli - 1 lb, florets
- Oil, cooking - 1 Tbsp
- Cumin, ground - 1 tsp
- Red pepper flakes (opt) - 1/2 tsp
- Lemon juice - 1 tsp
- Vinegar, red or white wine - 2 Tbsp
- Mustard, Dijon - 2 tsp
- Paprika - 1/2 tsp
- Honey - 1/2 tsp
- Oil, olive - 3 Tbsp
Nutrition Facts
Prep
- Broccoli / Bell peppers - Prep as directed. Store separately. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Make vinaigrette - Whisk together vinegar, mustard, paprika, and honey. Add olive oil while whisking. Season vinaigrette with some salt and pepper. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Make spice blend - Combine cumin (portion for spice blend), chili powder, salt, ground coriander, oregano, black pepper, and garlic powder. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Lettuce - Chop lettuce.
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Make
- Heat oven to 400F / 204C.
- On a sheet pan, toss broccoli with cooking oil (portion for broccoli). Season with cumin (portion for broccoli), red pepper flakes, and some salt and pepper.
- Roast broccoli, shaking the pan halfway through cooking, until golden brown and tender, ~20 minutes.
- While broccoli roasts, heat a skillet with cooking oil (portion for salad) over medium heat. Add beef and spice mix and cook, breaking beef apart, until cooked through, 6 to 8 minutes.
- When broccoli is done roasting, squeeze lemon juice over top.
- Let beef and broccoli both cool slightly before assembling salads.
- Assemble salads with a bed of lettuce, topped with bell peppers, broccoli, beef, and pepitas on top. Serve with vinaigrette. Enjoy!
Nutrition Facts
Reviews
Ratings
Most Helpful
Good! Like chili mac but not as heavy. To make it easier, I mixed the cheese in and didn't broil. I also used a bag of frozen broccoli that I microwaved and mixed in right before serving.
1 Helpful48 reviews
This was good. Heavier than I am used to eating (I don't usually do pasta), but this was good. Kids didn't like it, but hubs and I did. Not sure I would make it again since the rest of the crew wasn't a fan. I enjoyed mixing it up.
0 HelpfulEveryone loved it, I doubled the spices. Used sour cream in the kids' portion to cut any spiciness. They ate all of it!! I didn't have time to broil, and was fine without it. Used macaroni shaped pasta, and made extra of it to add till it looked right. Also added some leftover black beans and leftover cooked onions, and extra bell peppers to it, which made it even better. Broccoli was good too!
0 HelpfulPut in a little extra spice because I used a pound and a quarter of ground beef. Lots of good flavor. Used a pack of pepper jack cheese. Good quick dinner. Update - I realized later that I forgot to add the water. There was just the right amount of sauce without it. It looked just like the photo.
0 HelpfulI only found fire roasted tomatoes with garlic at the store and it was excellent! Could have used more pasta but I eyeballed it anyway. I did not use the broiler, just set the lid on my skillet to melt the cheese(I've been burned by putting my skillet under the broiler one too many times!).
0 HelpfulI made this with onion and garlic and ground impossible burger. Cumin portion was a bit much for our taste. Otherwise good.
0 Helpful