Lentil Taco "Meat"

If you do recall, one of my goals that I successfully accomplished was to eat vegetarian for a month. Mister and I successfully accomplished that for the month of February and then continued with those eating habits through Easter day. At that point, Mister enjoyed some ham at my parents’ and I didn’t eat any meat until this past Friday night when we met my parents for supper at Beer Barrel. Dad’s suggestion: Taco Pizza! How did he know that that was exactly what I was thinking about on my way to Beer Barrel. Initially I had said that I wanted to continue eating meatless even after Easter, but in a split-second thought I decided questioned why and said, “Sounds good to me!”

My dad is a meat-lovin’ kind of guy. My momma-cita is a vegetarian that hugs the vegan-line in some aspects. They are that couple that orders a pizza “half-meat lovers/half-veggie lovers!] There were times I recall her making 3 different meals in one evening. She’d prepared something for my dad and me—including meat. She’d prepare an alternative for herself—meatless. And then she’d also prepare something for my brothers who were watching their intake for wrestling! That is way too much work for my liking!! I want something that appeals to various food liking people.

Of course that quick thought had been thought about previously which is why I decided to eat three too many pieces of Taco Pizza that night. For the month of February, eliminating meat [and bread] from our diet was a fast. Eliminate something from our lives in order to focus on something else. Continuing through Lent was again a sacrifice of sorts. Those where pretty black and white decisions for me. Continuing after Easter on the other hand was more focused on the overall health benefits of not eating meat as well as the benefits of eating things other than meats. Those are indeed two different things. Our bodies were made to eat meat, yet we have evolved in such a way that we can handle it and in the process pull nutrients from it. By no means am I arguing that meat is completely awful for you, but it’s also not the best. On the other hand, when we weren’t eating meat we obviously had to fill that void with other nutrients. This pushed me us to prepare meal combinations full of veggies and grains that I likely wouldn’t have eaten had I had a hunk of meat on my plate. Those “other” foods not only broadened my taste buds but also provided different types of nutrients that would have otherwise been lacking.

So in our adventure of eating meatless, a new “goal” has emerged. I want to be eating vegetarian 90ish% of the time. I don’t want to deprive myself of something that isn’t awful for me in hopes to stick to a rigid legalistic diet of sorts. If I’d really like a slice of Taco Pizza, then I really like a piece of Taco Pizza and I’m going to have it. In the process of it all, I’d also like to experiment with new recipes and new foods that my once carnivore-self would bypass.

Some of those new recipes have quickly become trashed recipes but I’m hoping to find some staples that I really enjoy!

Some of my trash recipes were Parsley-Garbanzo been burgers in Rachael Ray’s Magazine—bland, bland, bland—and my attempt to make black bean burgers—these tasted good because I like black beans, but there wasn’t much burger to it! It was more like black bean sloppy joes!

My favorite vegetarian recipe would have to be Lentil Tacos. Now I’ve never [knowingly] had lentils before and my greatest experience with them was as an object lesson about Jacob & Esau and when we told our parents about Ainsley’s anticipated arrival—she was the size of a lentil Christmastime 2010 when we spilled the beans! My, oh my how life has changed!!

The website that I found the lentil taco recipe on claimed that you can easily substitute them for taco meat, yet I definitely had my reservations since in the past preparing dry beans resulted in bland and crunchy [and once food poisoning of sorts! Sorry mister!] Nevertheless, I gave this a try and the verdict?! Definitely making it again!

It wasn’t a complete texture/taste replica, but boy was it good! [It wasn’t super bean-y flavored as well!]

Lacking a bit of photographic appeal,
but certainly not deliciousness appeal!

And so here is the delicious, economical Lentil Tacos Recipe:

Lentil Tacos

Yield: 4 servings [The original recipe said 6-8 servings but I can only see this if you are having other Mexican “sides” as Mister and I ate two-thirds of it—we only had tacos for that meal.]

Ingredients

1 cup lentils, rinsed and drained

2 Tbs. oil

1 onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 Tbs. chili powder

2 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. oregano

2 1/2 cups broth—Original called for chicken broth [obviously not vegetarian!] I used vegetable broth.

1 cup salsa

Instructions

In a large skillet, saute the onion and garlic together. Add the lentils and spices, cook for a minute.

Add the broth and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for about 30-35 minutes. [Do a quick “tender check of the beans. J]

Uncover and cook a few more minutes to thicken. Add the salsa.

Enjoy your taco meat alternative as tacos, burritos, nachos, or however!

1.AdasldkAAdapted from: Eat at Homes
 
If you are interested in other fairly simple, fairly economical meals and menu plans, definitely check out http://eatathomes.com . There are tons of recipes there! J