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!

Red Beans & Rice Burgers - Meat Free May meal

Red Beans & Rice Burgers

Perfect for my #MeatFreeMay Challenge, this recipe is a Fit & Healthy Mommy original recipe!  There is no need to buy expensive Meatless burgers - especially those frozen ones.  Make them fresh, friends.  It's SO easy!!

This simple recipe can be tweaked in so many ways based on ingredients in your house.  It's one of those "let's just use a bunch of staples and make something yummy" kind of recipes.

Red Beans & Rice Burgers

Last night I was scrounging around for dinner - hungry but lacking the energy to be creative.  I didn't plan my weekly menu to include a Saturday night dinner.  After working during the day and doing LAX, then soccer with my biggest girl, I was exhausted and not looking to make anything fancy.

While rummaging in the pantry, I found a can of organic, salt-free  kidney beans and a package of portioned pre-cooked brown rice.  I built the recipe from there and created these awesome burgers.  I am totally making these again.  Soon.

Here's the thing - and some of you already know this.  When I make up stuff in the kitchen, I rarely measure.  A lot of the ingredients below have estimated amounts, so please eyeball yours as you go and tweak as needed.

Ingredients:
1 - 15oz can organic, no salt kidney beans
1 cup cooked brown rice
1/3 cup yellow or white corn
3 or 4 baby carrots, diced
3T chopped red onion
1/2 cup chopped fresh spinach
1 tsp Trader Joe's Taco Seasoning
up to 1 cup gluten free breadcrumbs or panko
sprinkle of cumin
sprinkle of garlic sea salt
sprinkle of white pepper
coconut oil, for cooking

Rinse kidney beans very well under warm water.  In food processor, add kidney beans and cooked brown rice.  Add cumin, taco seasoning, garlic salt and pepper.  Pulse until crumbled and incorporated. Remove mixture from food processor and place in a large metal mixing bowl (I should have used a bigger one than the one pictured).  Add cooked corn, red onion, spinach and carrots (I left my carrots raw).  Remove any rings and mix with your hands.  Finally, add the bread crumbs starting with about half of a cup.  Mix well and add more if needed.  I didn't measure my bread crumbs, but I estimate it was close to one full cup.  Form mixture into patties.  I made three large patties, but you can probably make 4 medium patties depending on the measurements of your ingredients.

Heat a non-stick skillet over medium heat and add 1T coconut oil.  Add your patties and cook about 5 minutes on each side.  Because my patties were large, I placed them in the oven after pan-cooking in order to make sure they were heated through.  I cooked them in the oven for about ten minutes at 425.

These burgers can be served so many ways.  Use your imagination, or use what you have on hand.  I sauteed chard & spinach from my garden in coconut oil and added some baby bok choy.  I placed the burger on top of my cooked greens and added mashed avocado and a little Chipotle Veganaise (my FAVE two toppings!)

As always, if you make a recipe that you have found on my blog, even if it's not my original recipe, please comment and let me know how you made it, what you altered or changed, and what you thought about it.

Eden Organic Kidney Beans - No Salt Added

Precooked Brown Rice - Single Serve by Annie Chung

Rice, Beans & Spices before processing

Spinach, fresh picked from my garden - HUGE leaves!

Beans & Rice with veggies & spinach added

Gluten Free panko - it's becoming more easy to find in many stores

Three patties - before cooking

Pan-frying the patties in coconut oil

Burger served over cooked greens, with mashed avocado and Chipotle Vegenaise

YUM!!!!

Perfect texture & consistency