Friday, April 15, 2011

All I want is a Fabulous Taco!

Good Friday to everyone! I know I haven't posted all week which is a total bummer because I had a post plannned out for each day.  But I had a sinus infection and by the time I got home from work or school I was so exhausted that it was all I could do to get out of the car  and into the house.  One day I even took a 2 hour nap, well that make it sounds willing, but really I fell asleep for two hours and couldn't open my eyes if my life had depended on it. So for my Fabulous Food Friday I am going to post my Meatless Monday Post that never got written or posted.

On Sunday I made some delicious Lentil Tacos prior to teaching a friend how to make sushi. I am not a Sushi pro, but it is surprisingly simple to make and really could be made by anyone who knows how to make rice and read. I didn't really intend to have to large meals on Sunday but I have been craving a good Taco for quite awhile now and since I haven't been eating meat I wasn't sure what restaurant around here would serve this.  So I searched high and low on the internet for the perfect recipe. Ok that is not true I simply typed in Lentil Tacos and picked the first thing I found. Ok, Ok the Second recipe I found which was on Epicurious.com. This is a really great site probably the one I turn to most when I am not sure what to cook, because they have such a wide variety of meals and Ideas. So after very slight hesitation I started cooking the Lentils, only to realize that I had just thrown out my taco Seasoning so I had to do a little search again and mix Taco Seasoning.
So the First recipe I give you is
Homemade Taco Seasoning

Ingredients
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
Directions
In a small bowl, mix together chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, red pepper flakes, oregano, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper. Store in an airtight container.

 It was super simple to mix all the ingredients together and only took me maybe 3 mins. It was spicy enough but didn't have that extra bite of the too much salt that I find to be true in most store bought seasonings. 
Here it is all mixed together and I was finally ready to start my cooking of the Lentils. 
 1 onion chopped and Sauteed with one garlic clove
 In went the seasoning
 Then Lentils and they cooked until there was a fabulous aroma filling the house. Even at this point I could hardly wait to start eating this. But I resisted knowing that cooked lentils would be 100 times better. 
 In went the Broth and it simmered for about 30 minutes or until the broth was gone. 
 Here is some of the Goat Milk Yogurt that I had made the day before, I didn't have sour cream so I figured plain yogurt would do just as well. 
 It really did quite well and didn't separate or curdle like yogurt has done in the past when I cook with it. 
 Then I had to decide how I was going to get it to my tummy in the fastest manner. So I tried using some corn tortillas that were too soft and the fried tortilla method failed horribly. We had to run to the Fresh and Easy so I could pick up some taco shells as the ones I had thought about using had expired a year prior. (oops I am not good about cleaning out my cupboard.)
 Here is the final result topped with Dutch Goat Cheese, Romaine and Tomatos
 I ate 3 in total they were so Good and I would recommend trying them yourself! I know this will be a staple in my recipe binder.
Lentil Tacos

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup dried brown lentils, rinsed
1 package (2.25 ounce) taco seasoning
2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup fat-free sour cream
1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce, finely chopped (use half for less heat)
2 teaspoons adobo sauce
8 taco shells
1 1/4 cups shredded lettuce
1 cup chopped tomato
1/2 cup shredded reduced-fat (2 percent) cheddar
print a shopping list for this recipe

Preparation
Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook onion, garlic and salt until onion begins to soften, 3 to 4 minutes. Add lentils and taco seasoning. Cook until spices are fragrant and lentils are dry, about 1 minute. Add broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until lentils are tender, 25 to 30 minutes. Mix sour cream, chile and adobo sauce in a bowl. Uncover lentils and cook until mixture thickens, 6 to 8 minutes. Mash with a rubber spatula. Spoon 1/4 cup lentil mixture into each taco shell. Top with 2 heaping teaspoons sour cream mixture, lettuce, tomato and cheese.



OK, well I am off to do some Yoga since that will be on the agenda until these darn Antibiotics are done with again. Look the puppies are even ready for me to get my stretch on, Guess I better not keep them waiting. 

Have a wonderfully Spicy Weekend!

No comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...