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Monday, October 28, 2019

#COOKING WITH CLORIS--TACO SALAD FROM MYSTERY AUTHOR MARILYN MEREDITH

Marilyn Meredith, who writes the RBPD mystery series as F.M. Meredith, is the author of more than forty published books. She once lived in a small beach town much like Rocky Bluff, and has many relatives and friends in law enforcement. Learn more about Marilyn and her books at her website and blog.

Kayla Makes Taco Salad
In the latest mystery of the Rocky Bluff mystery series, Bones in the Attic, teenager, Kayla Duvall makes a taco salad to serve to her father and his guest, his romantic interest, Chandra Taylor.

We have Taco Salad a lot at our house and it gets made many different ways depending on who decides to put it together, and what ingredients happen to be on hand.

The basic ingredients are:

Lettuce, shredded, Iceberg or Romaine
Tomatoes, cut up—or grape tomatoes.
1 can black olives
1 can kidney beans, black beans, or pinto beans. (My family prefers pinto beans)
Sharp Cheddar cheese, grated
1 red onion, chopped
Tortilla or taco chips, crumbled into fairly large pieces.
1 lb. lean ground beef, cooked. (Could add taco seasoning when cooking.)
(Any kind of dressing, whatever your family prefers—or use taco sauce)
Mix it all together and top with sliced avocados if you like.

And you can have sour cream available to dollop on top. 

Best if eaten right away. 

When my grandson makes it, he always uses Thousand Island dressing.
My daughter-in-law likes to add chopped cilantro and use mango salsa for the dressing.

We have a houseful of family all the time and I love it. Makes for great times around the table.

Bones in the Attic 
In a small town like Rocky Bluff, personal and professional often overlap, so Detective Doug Milligan is not surprised when his daughter Beth is the one who informs him a body has been discovered.

What is surprising is that the body is in a long-abandoned home that Beth and other students are turning into a haunted house as a fund raiser. The city granted permission for the project as long as it was limited to the downstairs for safety reasons. But one student, Mike Patterson, couldn't resist the temptation to look in the attic.

Detective Milligan stepped carefully a trunk and peered inside. Only a musty unpleasant smell emanated from the contents, not the noxious decomposition odor he'd expected. The skeleton crammed inside was still clothed in the remnants of what may have been pajamas.

8 comments:

Marilyn Meredith a.k.a. F. M. Meredith said...

So glad to be here once again, thank you so much for hosting me!

ANASTASIA POLLACK said...

Always a pleasure, Marilyn!

Morgan Mandel said...

Hubby loves taco salad, but my tummy can't handle it. Wish I could. I don't know why but we both hate the taste of cilantro.
Good luck with your new release.You're an inspiration, Marilyn!

Lorna Collins - Author said...

Hating the taste of cilantro is a Northern European trait--especially those from Scotland and Ireland. (Yep, I learned this from my DNA results. I can't stand it either.) We make it, too, but with ground turkey instead of beef. You'll have to tell the story of your own cookbook. I think it's a hoot, and last time I looked, it was your bes seller!

Marilyn Meredith a.k.a. F. M. Meredith said...

I have a few family members who don't like cilantro, but hubby and I do and we have strong DNA from Scotland and Ireland. As for my own cookbook, I created it when I owned, operated and lived in a care home for 6 developmentally disabled women. Wonderful job--loved it. Too many in the same profession complained about not know what to cook. Because I don't like to cook the same thing over I did a lot of experimenting--hence the cookbook. Produced it myself, 3 hole punched and held together with brads. How it go on Amazon in the first place, I'm not sure, but Lorna found it and did all the work to edit and then put it on Amazon.

Madeline Gornell said...

Reading this early in the morning, no breakfast yet, and I'm drooling! So glad your cookbook is up, I'm going to go and check it out. Sorry to see the end of your tour...

Kathy McIntosh said...

How can your recipe make us hungry when in the next paragraph we read about the discovery of a dead body? We must be mystery lovers!
I, too, have Scots blood and like cilantro. I'm hoping to have a DNA test soon to find out who in my past loved it. Just keep away the celery...yuk.
I'm trying to catch up on your books, Marilyn, but there are SO many! You rock.

Marilyn Meredith a.k.a. F. M. Meredith said...

Thank you, Madeline and Kathy for stopping by and leaving a comment. Truly appreciated.