Hearty Cheeseburger Salad

Ingredients
1 pound ground beef
1/2 of a 2-ounce box (1 envelope) onion soup mix (1/4 cup)
3/4 cup water
6 cups shredded leaf or iceberg lettuce
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
1 medium green, red, or yellow sweet pepper, cut into bite-size
strips
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced and separated into rings
1-1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar, Swiss, American, or colby cheese
(6
ounces)
French Pickle Dressing (see recipe below)
Crumbled crisp-cooked bacon (optional)

Directions
1. In a large skillet, cook ground beef until brown. Drain off fat.
Sprinkle dry onion soup mix over meat; stir in water. Bring to
boiling;
reduce heat to medium and cook, uncovered, about 4 minutes or until no
water remains.

2. Meanwhile, in a very large bowl, combine lettuce, tomatoes, sweet
pepper, and red onion. To serve, divide lettuce mixture among 6 salad
plates. Top each serving with some of the warm meat mixture. Sprinkle
with cheese. Serve with French Pickle Dressing. Sprinkle with
crisp-cooked bacon, if you like. Makes 6 main-dish servings.


French Pickle Dressing: In a small bowl, stir together 1 cup bottled
creamy French salad dressing and 1/3 cup mustard-style hot dog relish,
sweet pickle relish, or dill pickle relish. Cover; chill in
refrigerator
for at least 30 minutes. Makes 1-1/3 cups.


Nutritional facts per serving
calories: 489, total fat: 36g, saturated fat: 14g, cholesterol: 77mg,
sodium: 1292mg, carbohydrate: 20g, fiber: 2g, protein: 23g, vitamin C:
57%, calcium: 26%, iron: 16%
_______________________________________