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This unique salad has tasty flavors which come together making a perfect combo for a delicious meal! A tasty choice for an easy, weeknight dinner.

Growing up, this was one of my favorite dinners. My mom was the main cook in my household, but dad did have a couple of things he would sometimes make. He made really good cookies, both chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin (but don’t you dare eat the dough, you’d get your hand slapped LOL) and this taco salad.

Dad was a firefighter for Central Fire District in Santa Cruz, California and from what I understand, this recipe (or before I veganized it anyway) was one he brought home from the firehouse. I remember my mom driving him down dinner every night (luckily we lived on the same street), but there must have been nights when they would cook dinner in-house.

It’s a simple recipe, definitely nothing fancy, but I’ve never seen another salad like it. I loved it as a kid (and still do), my daughter (the pickiest eater I’ve ever known) has always loved it, and my mom (even after my parents divorced) loves it as well! The key ingredients to this recipe consist of the dressing, made up of a blend of green taco sauce and Italian dressing, and the topping, traditionally Doritos Nacho Cheese tortilla chips, but that one, to make vegan, I had to change.

For the chips, we tried two different kinds. We tried Forager Cheezy Greens, which were my favorite, and we tried Blaze Doritos, which aren’t cheesy, but they are vegan and SPICY. The Doritos were preferred by my husband and son. There are also other “cheesy” vegan tortilla chips out there; you can use your favorite if you have one, or any flavored tortilla chip. Aside from being tasty, one of the things I like about the Forager chips, is they’re not only dairy free but corn free as well!

For some of you, it may be a little early in the year to have a salad for dinner, but for me, I just haven’t been able to wait. As the temperatures have been creeping up, I’ve been more and more craving salads and barbecues.

Last week, I made salads for dinner not once, but twice! It was also warm enough to lay out every day. Today it’s raining, yay spring with that manic weather. Maybe it’ll be soup tonight, LOL.

Wherever you may be, if it’s not warm yet, you’ll want to save this for when it is, and don’t forget to let me know what you think! Leave a comment below, or tag in a pic of your Firehouse Taco Salad on Instagram, @veggiesattiffanis.