Today is day 5 of my 10-day raw/vegan + Bikram yoga challenge! Day 4 as far as yoga was a bit rough; I’d say it was one of my less than stellar classes. I thought it would be a great idea to sit in THE only patch of sunlight (oh yeah, work on that tan while I workout), but I very quickly realized that this only raises the temperature in that spot (duh), makes the floor like the Sahara and makes me incredibly nauesous for most of class. No bueno. Anyway, lesson learned. Today’s class, though, was fantastic! I held postures a bit longer and was able to go a bit deeper into a couple as well. A great class, coupled with a fabulous recipe, made today a win overall. 🙂
Anyway, on to the goods! After going to a great vegan restaurant in town, I was inspired to find a solid recipe for a vegan taco salad. A bit of Googling later, and I found this recipe – so good! It was super simple and quick, and both my boyfriend and I really enjoyed it. So much that I plan on plopping this recipe into my regular rotation of lunch/dinner go-to’s. Check out the how-to below!
Raw & Vegan Taco Salad
You’ll need:
Your favorite taco fixin’s. I used:
Kale for the base
cabbage, chopped
red or yellow bell pepper, diced (I wanted yellow for some fun contrasting color; Harris Teeter only had red and green)
tomato, sliced
cilantro, to top
salsa
guac (again with the HT fail – I wanted avocado, but theirs were all wayyyy underripe, so we went with some store-made pico-de-guaco)
taco seasonings: I used cumin, onion powder, S&P; chili powder would be ideal here, but alas, I’m out, and didn’t feel like a store run.
Raw walnut, almond and sunflower seed “meat”
For the nut meat:
1 cup of raw nuts (I used raw almonds, walnuts and sunflower seeds)
a splash of olive oil
a splash of San-J gluten-free, reduced sodium tamari (or soy sauce)
taco seasonings
S&P
(I may or may not have read the ingredient list wrong at first and added a splash of apple cider vinegar, lol. Turned out great and you couldn’t tell it was in there! 😉 )
Cashew “sour cream”
For the cashew sour cream
3/4 cup raw cashews, soaked for at least 3 hours – this helps to soften them for blending!
1/2 lemon juice
splash of apple cider vinegar (THIS is where the ACV comes in, not the meat 🙂 )
couple cranks of salt (I’m all about Himalayan pink sea salt)
1/2 lemon juice
2-3 tbsp of water
The original recipe says to use a blender, but since I don’t have one, I used my trusty Nutri-Bullet for both the nut meat and the sour cream! For the nut meat, blend ingredients until it’s all sticking together, but still sort of crumbly – you’re looking for a consistency kinda like ground beef. For the sour cream, blend until it’s smooth. I added a teeny bit more lemon juice for this since Nutri-Bullets don’t liquify things. It was a bit thick, but still really tasty! My boyfriend and I were both impressed with how cashews, of all things, really did taste like dairy!! I still kinda can’t get over it.Anyway, once you’ve got your “meat” and “sour cream” made, stick your sour cream in the fridge for a bit to chill while you’re setting up your salads! This recipe made enough for 3-4 salads for sure – I’ve got the leftovers ready for tomorrow’s lunch! Since I didn’t have any romaine or big-leaf green to make taco cups, I used kale as the base of my salad, added the chopped cabbage (more of the green; again, purple would’ve been prettier, but that ish was like $2 more!), chopped tomato and red bell pepper, a splash of lime juice, a couple more shakes of cumin and onion powder, then the salsa and guac. Add your “meat” and “sour cream,” top it with some cilantro and S&P, and get ready for a fresh, delicious meal that’s packed with nutrients and is completely meat and dairy free! So good. (Another perk of this dish: it’s REALLY filling, so it’d be a great work lunch, since it’d definitely carry you until you clock out.)
Enjoy this recipe! I know I’ve been really recipe-heavy lately, and I’ve been meaning to post some of the workouts that I’ve been doing lately, so be on the lookout for that soon!
Beer and Brussel Sprouts 