Mexican "Chop Suey"

Alistair read this book once ("The Fortune Cookie Chronicles") that tracked the origins of American Chinese food, and got a kick out of the fact that pretty much nothing on the menu in Chinese restaurants came from China.  The only thing this has to do with this post is to explain the title-- Chop Suey essentially means "Odds & Ends," so when I made this, Alistair called it Mexican Chop Suey, and I liked it, so it stuck.  

Mexican "Chop Suey" (aka Taco Salad)

This is basically a pantry-emptier.  Leftover green salad, rice, refried black beans (from Trader Joe's) with smushed sweet potato mixed in (Shhhhhh, don't tell.  Nobody noticed!), thinly sliced chicken seasoned with my homemade taco seasoning (you can also do ground beef or turkey), then onions & peppers sauteed in the pan with butter (with the leftover seasoning in the pan).  I had no salsa, cheese, sour cream, or olives, but if I had, they would have been added too.  I had a little bit of an avocado that I smushed with a fork, added salt, pepper, onion powder, and a tiny pinch of crushed red pepper flakes (ground into a powder) for 'guacamole' topping. And I topped it off with some Ranch dressing.  I totally forgot to take a picture, but my plate was beautiful before I dug in!  :-)  

In the absence of a real 'recipe' for today, here's my taco seasoning mix:

2 tsp. chili powder

1 1/2 tsp. paprika

1 tsp. onion powder

1/2 tsp fine sea salt

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp oregano

1/4 tsp black pepper

pinch of cayenne pepper (adjust to your preference)

pinch of crushed red pepper flakes (I grind mine up, so they blend better with everything.  Again, adjusted to preference)

This can easily be doubled or tripled and then stored in an airtight container.  I usually make up a double batch at a time, but that's just because of the size of container I've chosen to use.