Taco salad

The Tex-Mex answer for anyone who finds most salads too polite. Spiced beef or turkey mince, black or pinto beans, Cheddar, tomato, avocado and crushed tortilla chips over shredded iceberg add up to a plate as filling as a burrito, with more crunch. Skip the deep-fried tortilla bowl and a homemade version is about twenty-five minutes, most of it browning the meat. A dressing of salsa loosened with lime juice and soured cream or yoghurt beats bottled ranch and keeps the flavours bright. The chips go soft within minutes of dressing, so add them at the last moment, and pack the warm meat apart from the leaves if taking it to work.