Vegan Walnut "Meat" Tacos in Lettuce Wraps with Cashew Cheese Sauce

Vegan Walnut "Meat" Tacos in Lettuce Wraps with Cashew Cheese Sauce

When my friend Heather recently posted in our Meat Free May Facebook group that she made some fantastic tacos using walnuts for the "meat", I will admit - I was a little skeptical.  I did some online searches and found that there are a ton on recipes for walnut "meat" filling, so I decided that if so many people have blogged about this, perhaps I should give it a try.  Not that I didn't believe Heather when she said these were amazing!  After all, her little boy has started stealing her green smoothies.  She must be creating some good stuff in her kitchen.  I digress...

I opted to make mine just a little differently, but they were still pretty similar.  I did not soak my walnuts and I used Bragg's Liquid Aminos.  If you don't know about this product, please go get a bottle and start using it right now!!  I use it almost daily whether in recipes or just on sautéed  kale.  It's loaded with amino acids and is free of preservatives and salt.

Taco filling:
1.5 cups raw walnuts
1 cup diced mushrooms
coconut oil
2T Trader Joe's taco seasoning
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1T Bragg's Liquid Aminos

Saute mushrooms in about a tablespoon of coconut oil until browned.  Remove from heat.  Add walnuts and seasonings to food processor and *pulse* until crumbly.  If you over-process, you'll end up with nut butter and that would be better for a sandwich.  When the walnuts are crumbly and the spices incorporated, add the mushrooms and stir until mixed.  Done - honestly, that's it.

I opted to serve mine in romaine boats with tomato, purple cabbage and "cashew cheeze" sauce which can be found at the bottom (under the pictures) of THIS blog post from last week.

Josh liked it too - and that's always a bonus!

Walnuts pulsed in food processor with spices

Close-up view of the walnuts

Cashew "Cheeze" Sauce

Sauteed mushrooms

Walnuts mixed with mushrooms

Simple - there's no need to have a dozen ingredients to make a taco!

And you can eat more with less guilt!

Black Bean & Rice Veggie Enchiladas with Collard Wraps and Cashew Cheeze

Black Bean & Brown Rice Veggie Enchiladas with Collard Wraps, Cashew Cheeze and Tomatillo Avocado salsa

Vegan, Vegetarian, Meat-free, Plant Based, Gluten Free, Dairy Free

Black Bean, Rice & Veggie Enchilada with Collard Greens, Cashew Cheeze and Tomatillo Avocado Salsa

If my recent recipes haven't sparked your interest yet, please let this one be the one you try.  Holy YUM, this recipe was amazing!!  Because I cannot have gluten, I opted to use collard greens to wrap my enchiladas.  What an awesome way to get more greens into my meal...without missing the tortillas at all.  I used up a lot of veggies that I had on hand, but you can tweak this - as with any recipe - according to your liking and what you have at home.

I made the cashew cheeze sauce based on a recipe by Melissa Costello of Karma Chow.  If you don't have her cookbook The Karma Chow Ultimate Cookbook, please consider purchasing it.  I absolutely LOVE her recipes!  Having done her vegan cleanse in early 2011, I learned so many nutritional tips but I also connected with some pretty amazing people.  She's definitely one of the people who inspired me to adopt a healthier lifestyle.

Onto my recipe!!  Minus, the cashew cheeze, this is a Fit & Healthy Mommy original recipe so please link to my blog or Facebook page should you recreate or share my recipe.  As always, please comment here or post on my Facebook page to let me know if you make one of my recipes and what you thought about it.  Tag me on Instagram @FitHealthyMommy & #FitHealthyMommy and if you're doing my Meat Free May Challenge, tag #MeatFreeMay.  Thank you!!  

Ingredients for the enchiladas:
6-8 large collard green leaves
1 cup cooked brown rice
1 can salt free organic black beans, divided
1/2 cup diced yellow squash
1/2 cup diced zucchini
3/4 cup diced mushrooms
3-4 kale leaves, chopped small, stems removed
1 tsp Himalayan sea salt
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp garlic powder
3T chili sauce, divided
coconut oil
1 recipe cashew cheeze sauce (at the bottom of this page)

Ingredients for Tomatillo Avocado salsa:
3 tomatillos, diced
2 avocados, diced
1/3 cup red onion, diced
coconut oil
chili sauce to your liking

In deep, wide pan, boil a few cups of water.  While waiting for the water to boil, lay each collard leaf flat.  Take a sharp knife and slice the woody stem at an angle, gently, to flatten the leaf for easier rolling.  Lay the leaves flat in the pan of water for a minute to soften.  They will turn bright green.  I did 2 or 3 leaves at a time so they wouldn't stick together.  Place to the side and make the filling.  Pulse the cooked brown rice and 2/3 of the can of black beans, cumin, salt & garlic powder in food processor.  Place mixture into a large mixing bowl.  In saute pan, add coconut oil then add mushrooms, zucchini and squash.  Cook until slightly browned.  Add the veggies to the rice mixture.  Add in the kale and rest of the whole black beans that you reserved and mix until combined.

To make the salsa, simply add the diced tomatillos & red onion to a little bit of coconut oil in a small saute pan.  Cook for just a few minutes until veggies soften then add chili sauce.  I added about a tablespoon.  Place this mixture in a small bowl and add diced avocado.  Stir together.  That's it!

Prepare a 9x13 baking pan.  I use nonstick foil for easy clean up.  Lay one collard leaf on a cutting board and spoon some of the rice & bean mixture onto the leaf.  Fold up the two sides then roll the leaf.  Please rolled leaf seam-side down in the baking dish.  Complete these steps with all of the leaves.

Pour the cashew cheeze sauce over the rolled enchiladas and top with the tomatillo avocado salsa.  Bake at 425 for about 25 minutes or until it's done.  These reheat very well when using leftovers.  Don't microwave them!!  Toss them back into a 425 oven for 10-15 minutes until heated through.

I used Eden Organic salt-free beans, and pre-cooked organic brown rice

Some of my faves!  I just found this Organicville gluten free chili sauce - SO GOOD!

Kale from my garden

Tomatillos

Collard Green leaves, before adding to the boiling water

Chopped veggies & kale

Tomatillos &  red onion for the salsa

Zucchini, squash & mushrooms sauteing in coconut oil

Brown rice, beans & veggies

I HEART AVOCADOS!!!

Tomatillo Avocado Salsa

Ready to make the enchiladas!

Fold the two sides, then roll up

Seam side down in the pan

Add cashew cheese sauce over top the rolled leaves then top with the salsa

Fresh from the oven - doesn't it look amazing??

So many veggies - this is definitely a clean, healthy meat-free meal!

YUM!!!

Cashew Cheeze Sauce (based on Karma Chow's recipe)
approx 2 cups raw, unsalted cashews
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp chili sauce or powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp Himalayan sea salt

Soak cashews in water for 4+ hours.  I soaked mine for about 6 hours.  Drain and add to food processor with rest of the ingredients.  Add enough water to just cover the cashews.  Cover and pulse or run processor until smooth & creamy.  I used my Vitamix and it turned out AMAZING!  Watch the consistency and determine if you want to add more water to this out the sauce.  Also, taste it!!  You might find that you want more nutritional yeast or more spice.  It's all to you and your taste buds!

Cashew Cheeze Sauce after mixing in my Vitamix

Meatless Monday Karma Burgers

Happy Meatless Monday, friends!  I confess, it's been a LONG time since I did a meatless Monday.  I thought today would be a great time to start up again because I'm going to be starting a challenge group via my Facebook & Instagram pages where we'll be eating Meat Free for the entire month of May.  (You can search the hashtag #meatfreemay).

Karma Burger served over baby spinach, with a broccoli slaw side

Tonight, I made a recipe from The Karma Chow Ultimate Cookbook.  Missy has some incredible recipes and this one was one of the best I've tried from her book thus far.  If you don't have this vegan cookbook, I encourage you to pick up a copy ASAP!

I tweaked her recipe based on what I had on hand.  It made 4 large burgers – 2 for tonight and 2 left over for another night this week.

Karma Burgers:
1 – 15 oz can chick peas (salt free, organic – rinsed well)
1 ¼ cup gluten free bread crumbs or panko
½ red onion, chopped
2 cups baby spinach
½ bunch parsley (about 1 cup packed)
¾ cup cooked brown rice
2T tomato paste
cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, sea salt (to your liking)
coconut oil, for frying

Puree onion, spinach & parsley in food processor until wet, nearly liquid.  Put into a mixing bowl and add chick peas & brown rice to food processor.  Pulse until finely ground.  Add to mixing bowl with greens.  Add tomato paste & seasonings.  I didn’t measure but if I had to guess, I’d day 1 tsp each except for the salt which was more like ¼ tsp.  Mix with hands until incorporated.  Add bread crumbs, a little at a time, until desired consistency.  Section the mixture into as many burgers as you’d like.  I made four large patties.

Depending on the size of your patties, cooking time will vary.  I ended up having to put mine in the oven at 450 for about ten minutes to make sure they were heated through.  I cooked them over medium heat with coconut oil in a pan for about 6 minutes per side.  They were not heated through, hence their trip to the oven.  Either way, they were amazing!!
We very rarely eat bread so I served the burgers over a bed of baby spinach and topped them with mashed avocado & Chipotle Vegenaise (dairy-free mayo).  For the avocado mash, I added a sprinkle of sea salt, garlic powder, white pepper and cumin. 

As a side, I tossed broccoli slaw with chopped broccoli crowns, red onion, red cabbage, gluten free/dairy free Ranch dressing from Organicville and sprinkled with raw pumpkin seeds.  I made the slaw (minus the pumpkin seeds) about an hour and a half before dinner so the dressing could really settle in. 

We will most definitely have this again!

Pureed spinach, red onion & parsley

Pureed brown rice and chick peas

The mixture, after adding the panko

Karma Burger patties, before cooking

Broccoli slaw

Mashed avocado with seasonings - YUM!

pan frying the patties in coconut oil

inside of the Karma Burger

Broccoli slaw with raw pumpkin seeds