A Vegan Cinco de Mayo Celebration

Happy Cinco de Mayo!  I hope you’re celebrating with delicious Mexican food and a nice cold beverage.  I know I will be!  Today, I’m planning to savor some greasy Mexican food and imbibe far more margaritas than the Surgeon General would see fit, but we actually got the celebration started on Friday with a healthy vegan feast with our good friends Holly and Jason.  I absolutely love how colorful this whole meal was.  When it comes to food, I feel like color is a good indicator of both flavor and nutrition.

Holly and I met when I responded to a Craigslist ad for an open room in the summer of 2010. We quickly bonded over many things, one of which was our shared love of cooking healthy and delicious meals from scratch.  We collaborated on many a feast during my days in the Pink Palace, and in the nearly two years since I moved out, we have continued to do so on a fairly regular basis.  This time around, Holly brought her amazing homemade chips to go with my edamame guacamole.

Perhaps my favorite quote of the night (although there were many good ones!) was when Courtney laid eyes on our collaborative work (above): “Jason, you know, you and I have a lot in common. *Eats a chip with guac.* For instance, we both have some pretty incredible women.”  Anyone who has ever denied that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach isn’t very familiar with men.

None of us are vegan by any means (or even vegetarian for that matter), but as I recently shared, I’ve been more and more drawn to a plant-based diet and the challenge of creating delicious vegan alternatives.  So when I came across the lentil-cauliflower taco “meat” (the only thing it has in common with Taco Bell is that “meat” is in quotations!), I decided to give it a try.  I personally thought that it could use a little more flavor, but my dinner mates seemed to disagree (or at least they were too polite to agree with me!)   It may also be that I just didn’t care for the corn tortillas, because the “meat” was delicious on one of Holly’s homemade chips.  Regardless, you may want to mess with the spicing to meet your personal tastes.

In addition to salsa, guac and the usual toppings (see above), I served the tacos with a vegan sour cream.  The recipe I chose was cashew based, and very simple.  Honestly, I’ve never been a big fan of sour cream, so I’m not the best judge of its authenticity, but to me it tasted an awful lot like cashew paste.  That said, I thought it was a quite enjoyable addition.

Lentil-Caulflower Taco “Meat”

From Fat-Free Vegan Kitchen

Ingredients:

• 1 cup dry lentils
• 3 cups water
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 large head cauliflower
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Rinse and drain your lentils and place in a medium-sized saucepan with 3 cups of water, 2 cloves of minced garlic, and a little salt, if desired. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and cook until just tender, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, prepare the cauliflower “rice” by removing the leaves and large stems from the cauliflower.  Grate the cauliflower in a food processor or using a hand grater.  If using a food processor, cut the cauliflower into quarters and then cut or break each quarter into pieces. Process one quarter at a time, careful not to over-process.
3. Once the cauliflower is grated, heat olive oil in a wok or very large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until it begins to brown.  Increase heat to high and add the cauliflower and garlic and saute, stirring so that it browns evenly.  Add chili powder and continue cooking until the cauliflower is tender.  Reduce heat to medium-low.
4. Drain the lentils well and add them to the skillet. Add the remaining the remaining seasonings. Cook on medium until heated through and flavors are combined, careful not burn the bottom.  Add salt and pepper to taste.
5. To serve, place about 1/3 cup of filling in a small corn tortilla and garnish with lettuce, tomatoes, and any other fillings you like.

Yield: 6-8 servings        Serving size: 3 tacos   

Vegan Sour Cream

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup raw cashews
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 5 Tbsp water

Pulse all ingredients except water in a food processor or high-speed blender, adding one tablespoon of water at a time until the desired consistency is reached.  You make need to pause and scrape to center several times.

Johanna