Tip# 12: Turn the Worst Salad Entrée Into One of the Best

WOULD YOU BELIEVE: One of the highest fat fast foods has the word "salad" in it?
SOME FACTS: Of all the items on the regular menu of the best known fast food restaurants, one of the worst item in terms of fat content is surprisingly the Taco Salad from Taco Bell®. It contains a stunning 905 calories and 61 grams of fat!25 Where does all that fat come from? To start with, any taco usually has a fried "shell." In this example, the giant shell has 30 grams of fat (most regular sized taco shells are much smaller and have about 3 to 5 grams of fat).
Here are the fat contents of other items that make up taco salads.
As you can see, you can make a very low fat taco salad by using Baked Tostito® chips, no-fat refried beans, greens, and some zesty salsa. One trick to making zesty Mexican food is in using fresh salsa with cilantro. Then you can turn one of the highest fat dishes into one of the lowest.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

• Try the taco salad recipe that follows.

• Add some zing by adding fresh chopped cilantro and using fresh chopped tomatoes, onions, and chili peppers.
Zip Taco Salad
1 can No-fat refried beans (16 oz.)
3-4 C Lettuce, chopped
1-2 Tomato, chopped
2 Tbsp. Cilantro, chopped
2 Tbsp. Onion, chopped
½C Salsa (recipe on page 324)
4 oz. Baked Tostito®
chips

Warm refried beans in small saucepan. Lay Baked Tostito® chips on plates, add beans and other ingredients, and top with fresh salsa. Put a few chips on the side and serve. Makes 4 portions. (1 portion = 335 calories, 2.7 grams fat, 7.2% fat)
A Garden of Vegetable Recipes
Crispy Onion Rings
2 large Sweet onions
1 pkg. Corn flakes cereal (7 oz), crushed
2 tsp. Honey
1 tsp. Paprika
1 tsp. Seasoned salt (or a pinch of seasonings, garlic powder, and ¾ teaspoon salt) 1C Powdered egg
substitute (in 2 cups of water)
Vegetable oil
cooking spray

Cut each onion into 4 thick slices; separate into rings, reserving small rings for other uses. Set aside. Combine cereal, honey, paprika, and salt; divide in half, and set aside. Beat egg substitute at high speed with an electric or hand mixer until soft peaks form. Divide onion, egg whip, and cereal into two portions. Dip one portion of the onion rings in egg substitute foam, then dredge in crumb mixture. Place in a single layer on nonstick baking sheets or lightly coat regular baking sheets with cooking spray.
Repeat procedure with other portion of onion rings,o egg foam, and crumb mixture.
Bake at 375 F. for 15 minutes, or until crisp; serve warm. These do not save well; eat 'em now or forget 'em. Makes 4 portions. (1 portion = 254.0 calories, 0.5 grams fat, 50.6 grams carbohydrates, 10.8 grams protein) [2% fat by calories]
Get the rest of the recipes from this section by getting a copy of the "Eat More Weigh Less" book by Dr. Shintani @ Amazon or Lulu. Also try to get your copy of his "Peace Diet" book to get more benefits.