Easy Entertaining: Taco Salad Bar

Today I’m just posting a quick (and somewhat obvious) idea for your next lunch or dinner event.  I made taco salad for last week’s dinner meeting, and it worked really well.  It was easy for me (the hostess) and customizable for my guests.  I put each ingredient in a separate bowl so they could make it exactly how they wanted it.  Plus, taco salad is gluten-free for those of you who are avoiding gluten.

You can chop and prepare all the ingredients ahead of time.  I used butter crunch lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, green onions, black beans, sour cream, Fritos, regular tortilla chips (I prefer Mission tortilla strips), homemade salsa (extra spicy!), and homemade guacamole.  I also made the taco meat from ground turkey instead of ground beef and used homemade taco seasoning.  I included black olives and forgot chopped peppers (doh!).  Guests can either use salsa or Catalina dressing as their topping–the Catalina dressing is a Michigan thing, and I completely understand if you’re skeptical at first, but it is really, really, good on taco salad!

Homemade guacamole is usually pretty foolproof.  Just mash avocados and add minced garlic, onion, lemon (or lime) juice, salt and pepper.  You can add in chopped cilantro and tomato if you’d like.

Of course I served lots of cold Mexican beer alongside!

Sweet tea was also available for those who preferred a nonalcoholic beverage.  See how I made the drink tags (a Ballard Designs hack) here.

Of course, presentation is important, too, so I used the galvanized utensil caddy I found at HomeGoods a few days ago for the forks, napkins, and paper straws:

The fun retro-style napkins are from HomeGoods (I keep that store in business!).

I entertain several times a month, and although Pinterest is a lifesaver, sometimes I find myself running out of ideas.  What are your best recipes/ideas for entertaining?  I’d LOVE to hear them!

Thanks for stopping by~