Tacos with Super Veggie Lentil Taco "Meat" adapted from www.ordinaryvegetarian.com


I used to make tacos at least once a week. Two ingredients I had cut out of my eating are ground turkey and cheese. So what do I put inside my tacos? Hmmmm. Look online for vegan taco meat and you get many hits. But the one recipe that most people went to was the "Super Veggie Lentil Taco "Meat" by www.ordinaryvegetarian.com. I followed the recipe to a "T". But, I think I left a little too much liquid in the lentil mix. But.... my husband didn't gag, and he actually had a second helping. YAY!!!!!
Along with the lentil meat I added corn, chopped cilantro, homemade salsa, and black olives.
Hope you like it!

Super Veggie Lentil Taco "Meat (makes about 3 cups)


1 cup brown lentils, rinsed and picked over
1 medium yellow onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 large bell pepper, chopped (any color)
1 cup sliced mushrooms (any kind)
1 carrot, peeled and sliced
2 ribs of celery, sliced
1 1/2 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp oregano
1 bay leaf
dash cayenne
1/2-1 cup vegetable broth 
3 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp lime juice


 1.Cook lentils and set aside. (Bring 2 cups of water and 1 cup lentils to a boil, bring down to simmer for 20 min or until water is gone). 
2. Saute onion for 3 minutes in large saute pan. Add 1/2 cup vegetable broth in skillet. Stir in the garlic, bell pepper, and mushrooms and cook for another 3 minutes. Add in the carrots, celery, chili powder, cumin, paprika, oregano, bay leaf, and cayenne stirring constantly. Stir in the lentils. Keep the heat at medium low and cover for 10 minutes.


3. Remove from heat. Remove bay leaf and stir in tomato paste and lime juice. Transfer to food processor or blender and pulse a few times, until a crumbly texture is achieved--do not puree. Serve hot.


Makes six 1/2 cup servings, which could be used to make 12 tacos, 6 burritos, 6 taco salads, or 6 nacho platters.

Spring Rolls

Ingredients: Makes 4
Rice wraps (1 per roll)
rice noodles (1/4 package)
shredded carrots (1 medium)
sliced cucumber (1/4 cucumber)
raw sesame seeds/sunflower seeds
sliced green onion (1 stalk)
cooked mushrooms (I used enokitake mushrooms)

Sauce:
soy sauce/tamari (1 tsp)
honey (1tsp)
tahini (1 tsp)
sesame oil(1 tbsp)
red pepper flakes (optional)

sidenote: Both the ingredients and sauce can be changed to your palate, or whatever you have in the house.

Directions:
1) Cook rice noodles, set aside to cool
2) Meanwhile, prepare your vegetables. Cook mushrooms if needed.
3) Soak Rice wraps one at a time in water for 2 minutes or until soft.
4) Place ingredients in the middle of the rice wrap circle.
5) Fold up and there you are!
6) Mix sauce items together.

If you can't tell, this is on the clear spring roll wrapper

Spiralized Zucchini & Carrots with Cashew/Avocado Sauce, Yum!!! (RAW)

I have been getting in a slump, eating all the same foods day in and day out. So I looked in my cupboard and saw my spiralizer just sitting there waiting to be used. So, instead of exercising this morning (I know..., I was bad), I decided to take the time to figure out a sauce to put on the veggies. I know a lot of raw foodists will concoct sauces made with cashews for a type of alfredo, and this is what I wanted to do. I've tried it in the past and it came out bland, and I wanted to have more zing! So, I had some Umami Japanese plums in my fridge which I usually put these chopped up pieces in my veggie roll ups for salty type taste. Lemon always adds flavor, then I thought of Cayenne for bite! If I say so myself, this came out pretty darn tasty! I only made enough for one, for my lunch today so the following recipe needs to be doubled/tripled for more servings. Hope you enjoy!!!

Ingredients:

1/2 Zucchini, raw, spiralized

1/2 Carrot, raw, spiralized

1/4 Cup Edamame beans

1/4 Cup Snap Peas, cut in 1/2" pieces

1/2 Cup Daikon Radish sprouts (if not available, regular sprouts would work. Daikon sprouts have a definite kick)

Sauce Ingredients:

1/2 Cup Cashews, raw, soaked for 2 hours

1/2 Avocado

1/2 Umami Japanese Plum

1/2 Fresh squeezed lemon (or to taste)

Pinch Cayenne Pepper (or to taste)

Here is the Spiralizer I use. It's OK and works fine.

Simply put veggie on prongs and turn the crank. This model comes with 3 different blades for different widths, but I wish it had an angel hair blade for finer "noodles".






So I put the sauce on the veggies and mixed in.
I added some black pepper at the end. As you can see this is definitely a plateful, but after eating the whole meal, I was satisfied, not overly full. Perfect lunch meal.