Recipe: Key substitutes make Mom's taco salad a healthy choice

My family loves to eat a unique version of taco salad for lunch or dinner. In an attempt to become healthier, my mother substituted ground turkey instead of beef and Greek yogurt instead of mayonnaise in the ranch dressing.

These two ingredients alter the taste of the recipe only slightly, but they make the dish a lot healthier.

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MOM'S TACO SALAD

1 pound ground turkey

1 package of taco seasoning

1 small head of iceberg lettuce

3 handfuls of lightly crushed tortilla chips

1 can (15 ounces each) kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1 cans (2 1/4 ounces each) sliced olives, drained

1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 large sweet onion, chopped

2 large carrots

Ranch dressing packet (follow directions on packet to make ranch, substituting Greek yogurt for mayonnaise)

Assemble the salad. Brown the ground turkey with the onion. Add the kidney beans and cook for 2-3 minutes. Drain meat mixture. Add taco seasoning to mixture. Put dressing on salad. Add cheese. Crush chips in salad. Add meat mixture to salad. Mix all ingredients together.

Shelby Scoffield has a bachelor's in English from Brigham Young University and a master's in rhetoric and composition from Stanislaus State University. She is currently working on her teaching credentials so she can teach high school English.