Kristen Belliston, 23, of Orem, is a busy wife and mother who works full time outside her home, so she's happy when she finds a quick, nutritious dish to serve her family.

The meat in it has to be browned but she usually does that the night before, then tosses the seasoned hamburger cold with the lettuce, tomato, cheese, onions and dressing on the day of the picnic. "I found the recipe about six months ago and use it once or twice a month," she said. "It's really easy and really healthy. You can't beat that."

Instead of buying a prepared taco seasoning packet, the cumin, garlic salt and red pepper replace that.

"It tastes just like a taco seasoning without all that fat and grease," she added.

Her husband, David, loves the salad; their 3-year-old daughter, Leah, likes the ranch dressing and cheese in it. "The lettuce is disguised, so she doesn't even know she's eating it," said Kristen. Sometimes she throws the salad into a tortilla and makes a wrap out of it.

She keeps a lookout for main course dishes that can be eaten and then used as leftovers to take to work for lunches. Kristen says she's recently discovered frozen chicken breast strips. She can easily thaw them, then shred to use the chicken in a stir fry or an enchilada.

"I like easy!" she says.

The Utah native works as a teller at American Fork's Washington Mutual bank and loves to hand-craft greeting cards. She and her husband met on a blind date; he's a student at Utah Valley University, where he plans to major in video game design.

Here's her creative taco salad, which she likes to serve with fresh summertime fruit and/or rice on the side.

Six-Layer Taco Salad

Serves 4

• 1 pound extra lean ground beef

• 1/2 teaspoon each: cumin, garlic salt, red pepper (cayenne)

• 10 cups (10-ounce bag) lettuce greens

• 1 large tomato, chopped

• 1/2 cup light ranch dressing

• 1/2 cup shredded cheese (low fat Mexican style)

• 1/2 cup sliced green onions

Brown meat with seasonings. Drain. Layer in a serving bowl the meat, lettuce, tomato, dressing, cheese and onions. Repeat layers until ingredients are used up. Or divide the fixings evenly among four salad plates.

• Cook's notes: You can use ground turkey, fat-free dressing and the lowest fat in cheese offerings.

When it's in the bowl you can use it as a dip and scoop it up with tortilla chips or crush up the tortilla chips and use them as another layer.

• Options: Try using pinto beans with the ground beef or substituting cooked chicken (cut or shredded) for the beef. Bacon, avocado and black olives can be added to the dish. Use salsa, sour cream and guacamole as sides.

Recipe adapted from www.kraftfoods.com.

Send favorite family recipes to Karen Hoag at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , fax to 344-2985 or mail to the Daily Herald, P.O. Box 717, Provo, Utah 84603.