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Girl saw this recipe recently in one of my really old cookbooks and asked me to make it. I, of course, adapted it quite a bit:
– I used 1 pound of ground beef, instead of 1/2
– I used Monterey Jack, instead of cheddar (because that’s what I had on hand – I used a little more than 1 cup, since I had more meat)
– I used my own taco seasoning mix, instead of the pre-packaged stuff
– I added a little bit of sauteed garlic and onion to the meat/cheese mixture, too.
– I didn’t do the whole tomato/olive/lettuce/bell pepper cup thing in the middle of the ring, but just served a salad and rice and beans on the side

Taco Ring, ready to go in the oven

Taco Ring, just out of the oven

For the rice and beans, I sauteed a little bit of garlic (3 to 4 cloves) and onion (1/2 an onion?) in some oil until it was soft. I added a bit of this to the meat/cheese mixture for the taco ring, mixed some into a can of fat-free refried beans and stirred some into the rice as it was cooking. To the beans, I also added a tiny bit of cheese, a heavy sprinkle of cumin, a tiny bit of chili powder and a good sprinkle of oregano. For the rice, I used long-grain brown rice, with chicken stock (with 1 to 2 Tbsp of tomato paste mixed in) as the cooking liquid. When it was about halfway cooked, I added some frozen peas and chopped fresh carrots (add a little extra cooking liquid at that point, too). I also added a bit of cumin and some turmeric (for color).

For the salad, you can just use whatever greens and veggies you’d like (we used romaine with purple onions, radishes and grape tomatoes), but the salad dressing recipe follows below.

NB: Cilantro gets very “gamey” and pungently-flavored in the summer. Although cilantro is delicious with lots of summer produce (corn, tomatoes, etc.), it is actually a winter herb and starts to go to seed (coriander is the seed of the same plant) in the summer. When you buy it in the summer, you may notice that it looks a little different and has small clusters of thin, feathery leaves at the ends, rather than the large, parsley-like leaves that you’re used to (see bottom right quadrant of the photo below). The flavor changes at this point, as well. When using summer cilantro, you may need to use less, since the flavor is so strong. If you’re making this dressing in the winter, you can use a heavier hand when adding the cilantro.

Cilantro Ranch Salad Dressing

1/2 cup sour cream (low-fat version OK)
1 cup mayonnaise (low-fat version OK)
1 tsp dried dill weed (or a little less, if you’re using freshly chopped dill)
1 tsp onion powder
about 1/4 cup buttermilk (low-fat version OK)
finely chopped fresh cilantro to taste
(depending upon the flavor, use anywhere from 1 Tbsp. to about 1/4 cup)
1 garlic clove
about 1 tsp. kosher salt
freshly ground pepper, to taste (1/8 tsp?)
2 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh chives (optional, but delicious)

Run the garlic through a garlic press or chop it finely on a cutting board. Sprinkle the salt over the garlic clove and press the garlic/salt mixture with the flat side of a knife to crush the garlic (the salt will act as an abrasive and will help crush it up). Scoop/scrape up the garlic/salt mixture and place it in a medium-sized mixing bowl.

Whisk in the mayonnaise and sour cream until the mixture is smooth. Whisk in the buttermilk, a little bit at a time, until you reach the desired dressing consistency (you may not use the entire 1/4 cup, or you may need a little more).

Optional: Use an immersion blender to remove any lumps at this point (do NOT use it once you’ve added the herbs).

Stir in the dill, onion powder, black pepper and cilantro and chives.

Makes about 2 cups.

Adaptation: to make regular ranch dressing, substitute finely chopped fresh Italian parsley, to taste, in place of the cilantro.

A perfect summer dinner.

I used this recipe from May 2008 Cooking Light magazine for the beef, but came up with the panzanella on my own. Panzanella is a great summer dish and can be adapted to take advantage of whatever fresh, seasonal veggies that you happen to have on hand.

Here’s my version:

Zucchini-Black Bean Panzanella

8 cups (1-inch) day-old bread cubes
(from a crusty, country loaf, such as baguette, but NOT sourdough)
1 large garlic clove
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 medium sized zucchini, cut into “sticks”
(about 3/4 inches wide and 3 to 4 inches long)
1 large, ripe tomato
about 3/4 cup black beans, cooked
1 ripe avocado, chopped
1 Tbsp. lime juice
1 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh basil
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Mash the garlic clove with a generous pinch of salt (using the side of a knife blade) until it becomes a fine paste. Whisk the garlic-salt mixture into the olive oil. Pour 2 Tbsp. of the garlic oil over the bread cubes and toss to coat them. Turn bread cubes out onto a baking sheet and toast them in the oven for 10 – 12 minutes, or until golden-toasty, tossing once or twice. Set aside to cool.

While the bread cubes are baking, toss the zucchini sticks with about 1 Tbsp of the garlic oil and another pinch of salt. Grill the zucchini on a low flame until they have some color on them, but are not totally soft (you may oven-roast the zucchini, instead, if you prefer). Remove the zucchini from the grill and cut each “stick” into 3 or 4 bite-sized pieces. Set aside to cool.

Gently toss avocado with lime juice. Set aside. Whisk the vinegar and basil into the remaining olive oil. Add fresh pepper to taste and more salt, if necessary. Toss the black beans and tomato into the vinaigrette and stir gently. Add zucchini and bread cubes and toss gently to coat them with the vinaigrette. Add the avocado-lime mixture and toss again, very gently. Serve immediately.

Panzanella must be eaten immediately, or the bread cubes will get soggy, but if you are preparing this in advance or know that it will not all get consumed in one meal, you can combine all the ingredients, except the bread cubes, and refrigerate, and then toss the bread cubes in at the last minute and toss. If transported this way, panzanella would be a great potluck dish. Mmmm….salty-sweet with the smoky grilled zucchini, juicy tomato, creamy avocado and tangy vinaigrette. One of my favorites.

Occasionally, when I’ve been cooking a lot and we have a large variety of leftovers around the house, I’ll pull everything out of the fridge and set it on our kitchen island, put out plates and let everyone choose what things they want. This is always a big hit, especially with Boy and Girl. Tonight, I did a variation of leftover night: “Stuff-Your-Own-Pita Night”. I made some meatballs (spiced with cumin, cinnamon and a bit of cayenne, with some garlic, finely chopped red onion and cottage cheese mixed in) and tzatziki and grilled some halloumi and then pulled out everything else that we had around and let the family dig in.

The options were (from top left, going clockwise):
Israeli Couscous salad, diced zucchini and yellow squash (leftover from making the salad), baby carrots, Parisian carrots, fresh romaine, pitas, diced bell pepper (also leftover from making the salad), leftover grilled romaine, grilled halloumi, leftover grilled chicken, leftover Buttermilk-Chive dressing, “Cherub” tomatoes, tzatziki, leftover grilled onion, spiced beef meatballs.

Here’s how I chose, for my dinner:

Yummy!