Haystacks

With summer here, I'm always on the lookout for easy dinner ideas that won't heat up my kitchen.  My husband is the complete opposite of me and says he could eat chili on a 110 degree day.  Not me.  With the change of weather, I want quick meals and lots of salads.  But serving the same ole' thing can get boring after awhile.  I often find myself sitting down on a Sunday evening wondering what in the world I'm going to make for the week.  

It was on one such evening that I remembered this variation of taco salad from my childhood.  Quick, cool, and with a little twist, it absolutely delighted our family.  We hope you like it too.

Haystacks

Corn Chips

Rice cooked in chicken broth

Any kind of taco meat

Salad mix

Tomato

Olives

Cheese

Green onion

Salsa

Sour cream or Ranch (we used Jalapeno Ranch)

Shredded coconut (optional)

Whatever else you'd like

The secret to these Haystacks is in the layering.  Start with a nice even bed of corn chips and add a layer of rice.  Make sure you cook the rice in chicken broth to give it that added flavor.  If you want to make these Hawaiian Haystacks, you can also add a sprinkling of shredded coconut.

Then finish by layering on the rest of your toppings.  You can use whatever meat you'd like, from ground burger to carne asada.  If you want to make these vegetarian, add black beans instead.  We used some turkey meat that had been in the slow cooker all day with salsa.  For my Haystacks, I sat our salad mix, olives, tomato, green onion, cheese, salsa, sour cream and my favorite, Jalapeno Ranch.  You could also add jalapeno rounds, corn, or cilantro.

The corn chips are a nice twist on tortilla chips, and the rice adds an extra layer of flavor.  Perfect for a summer dinner on the patio.  Pair it with a Lime Raspberry Cooler and you've got one of my favorite summer treats.

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