Vegan Taco Salad

What an eventful day yesterday! I’d taken the day off from work to catch up on things but ended up having to deal with a major computer problem for a huge chunk of the day.

At 12pm, I found myself in my car, rushing into the city with my damaged computer tower nestled in the back seat.

Unfortunately it will be 2-3 days until I get it back. Thankfully, Kevin has a computer that I can use in the meantime.

I’m trying not to think about the fact that I may have lost all of my files, and remain optimistic about the whole situation.

Come 5pm, I was famished and wee-bit frustrated. I walked into the pantry and realized that I’d had the same can of navy beans for over a year.

I bought said can last summer when I’d wanted to try to try my hand at a rosemary hummus, but never got around to it. Can you believe I’ve never had navy beans? I know, crazy, right?

In any case, it was getting late, I was near exhaustion, and the navy beans were calling my name.

What’d I do?

Made some rice, grabbed my homemade taco seasoning, and went to work.

Within less than an hour, I had a beautiful salad in front of me and for a brief moment, I forgot all about my computer troubles.

Thankfully the recipe makes 4 entree sized salads, so I got to eat before taking pictures [this is a rarity around here].

I’ve packed the leftovers in my lunch today and cannot wait to dive in!

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Vegan Taco Salad

Vegan, Gluten free, Dairy free, Refined sugar free, Yeast free, Corn free

Taco salad is one of my favorite Mexican dishes. Instead of cooking up ground meat, try opting for a grain + pulse based “meat”. High in fiber, and protein, this salad is light and refreshing and wont weigh you down.

Yield: 4 entree sized salads

Ingredients

• 1 cup basmati rice
• 2.5 cups water
• 1 tbsp extra virgin coconut oil
• 14oz can navy beans [yield: 1 3/4 cup]
• 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/4 cup pepitas
• 3 tbsp taco seasoning – I used smoked paprika instead of regular paprika
• 2 tbsp extra virgin coconut oil
• 8 cups of mixed greens
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 2 tomatoes, diced
• 1 avocado, cubed
• 1 batch of homemade salsa
• 1 batch of corn-free nachos

Directions

Place water, rice and coconut oil in a medium saucepan. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and cook for 30-40 minutes until fully cooked. Remove from heat and set aside with the lid off.

Place cooked rice, beans, seeds, and taco seasoning in food processor and pulse until ingredients are broken up. Transfer to a large frying pan, add 2 tbsp of coconut oil, and cook on medium heat for 5 minutes, or until heated through. Remove from heat and serve with mixed greens, peppers, tomatoes, and avocado. Use homemade salsa as salad dressing and top with corn-free nachos.

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note: the taco seasoning recipe will yield a bit more than what you need for the recipe. You can store the mixture in a small airtight container and sprinkle over-top pasta, mix in with hummus, or save for your next taco salad!

You better believe I’ll be trying the ground “meat” in a rice tortilla tonight.

Before my computer crashed yesterday morning, I created an almond flour recipe handout for JK Gourmet that documents a couple of my favorite almond flour recipes. Although these recipes have been posted on my blog, I thought that some of you may find the handout useful.

To download the pdf, click here.

Have a fabulous Tuesday!

Tagged as: healthy salad, mexican, taco, taco salad, vegan salad, vegan taco