For the love of Taco's
In another life I am pretty sure I was a Hispanic woman, or Asian; the jury is still out on this one. It probably all started with my infatuation for avocados or jalapenos, that lead me here. As a kid my mom fed me enough avocados, or guacamole that Mexico was growing them just to supply my demands. I have passed the love on to my boys, and it is a favorite food item in our household. Whenever we meal plan for the week, you bet Mexican is on the list.
We generally switch up our Mexican meals from enchiladas, taco's, burritos, nachos, and the list goes on. Although we do different dishes every week, generally they all require the same ingredients. Our family is always looking for alternatives and ways to switch up our ingredients, try to keep it exciting and not repetitive. The easiest ingredient to switch up is typically the "protein". Although our family is not Vegan, we follow a 80/20 diet. We also put tofu in the smaller bucket due to Tiny.
A beautiful friend of mine shared her "Vegan Taco Meat recipe". I thought I had to try it, but knew I would have to tweak it a bit for the boys to eat it. That week we already had our soy and animal products, so it fit perfectly! Plus the protein was not a norm for us, it was nuts. You read that correctly "Walnut Meat". Below is our full recipe for your next fiesta!
Guacamole:
2 Haas Avocados diced
2 cloves of minced garlic
Juice from 1 Lime
¼ cup fresh cilantro
2 tbs chopped red onion
pinch of salt
pinch of black pepper
Combine ingredients and mix together until avocados are smooth and chill until ready to serve.
Salsa:
2-3 Organic Vine tomatoes (diced small)
2 cloves of fresh garlic minced
¼ cup of fresh cilantro
Juice from 1/2 lime
2 tbs of chopped red onion
pinch of black pepper
pinch of salt
Combine ingredients together in a medium bowl, mix and chill until ready to serve.
Walnut "Meat":
2 cups walnuts
4 quarts of water
1/2 tbs chili powder
1 tbs cumin
1/2tbs paprika
1 tbs olive oil
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
tbs salt
tbs black pepper
1) Start by soaking the walnuts in 4 quarts of water for minimum an hour.
2) While the walnuts are soaking in the water, start making your guacamole and salsa and refrigerate once finished.
3) Next, in a separate bowl combine your taco seasoning (chili powder, paprika, cumin, salt, and pepper) and set aside.
4) After an hour, drain the walnuts, leaving a little liquid in the bowl, and transfer to a food processor.
5) Once the walnuts are in the processor go ahead and add nutritional yeast and begin to blend for about 30 seconds or until the walnuts begin to look like real meat.
6) Now that you have a meat like texture, transfer to a mixing bowl and add your seasoning.
7) Mix and serve, the possibilities are endless.
