Black Bean Tacos with VEGAN Sour Cream

Ingredients:

For the sour cream:
1 cup of cashews (raw preferred, but regular salted ones you find at the store work fine)
3/4 cup water
2 tablespoons of fresh squeezed lemon juice
2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon of sea salt
(recipe adapted from www.ohsheglows.com)

For the taco filling:
1 can of black beans
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 bell pepper, diced
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
3/4 can of rotel OR 1/2 cup of your favorite salsa
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Steps:

For the vegan sour cream:
1. Soak 1 cup of cashews in water (make sure it's covering the top of the cashews at least an inch) overnight.
2. Place the soaked cashews along with the remaining ingredients in a mixer and blend on high until smooth consistency.
3. Store in an airtight container in the fridge, allow to cool and thicken before serving.
*I noticed this was a little more running that traditional sour cream, you may want to try using less water if you don't like it this runny.

For the taco "meat":
1. Rinse and roughly mash the black beans with a fork.
2. Sautee onions, peppers and garlic with olive oil over medium heat until the onion is translucent.

3. Add the mashed beans, salsa/rotel, along with all seasonings. Stir well to combine and heat for at least 10 minutes.
4. Taste and adjust seasonings to your liking.

Serve on corn tortilla and top with cabbage salad, vegan sour cream, and hot sauce!

Korean Beef Tacos (Garbo's Grill Copy Cat Recipe)

Have you ever tried the Korean Beef Taco's at Garbo's Grill in Key West, FL? If not, you're missing out. If you can't make it to Key West, I strongly urge you to make these! They were so delicious, Trey and I made them twice in one week. I even purchased an extra large electric skillet for this recipe! The best part is how simple they are. Ridiculously simple. (Don't be fooled, the prep, specifically prepping the meat, can be tedious).

I followed the recipe posted on foodnetwork.com exactly the first time we made these. The second and third time, I tweaked a few things!

Here is the link to the recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/korean-bulgogi-taco-recipe.html

Tips: 

• Double the marinade; use the extra marinade for the reduction/sauce. Reduce for around an hour on medium/low; this will be used as a sauce to toss the cooked meat in before serving. Save the leftovers (will stay good in the fridge for up to 2 weeks).  
• Use matchstick carrots in the slaw; gives it more color. I skipped the cilantro and just used that as a garnish. 
• Use flour tortillas; grill them before building the tacos. 
• Don't toss the slaw in the citrus soy vinaigrette; spoon over slaw when building the taco. 
• Purchase boneless beef short ribs (if you cannot find boneless, ask the butcher at your local grocery store, they should be able to remove the bone for you - they will re-label the now boneless short ribs, and you'll save some work and a couple of bucks!). When you are slicing the beef, make sure to take your time removing large pieces of fat. Make sure your slices are THIN, almost paper thin!
• Make a "Lime Crema" to drizzle along side the sriracha on top of each taco! YUM!

Lime Crema: 

1 cup sour cream

Juice of 1 lime

Zest of 1 lime

Salt - to taste

Taco Soup - Vegan/Vegetarian

 Healthy, SPICY, tasty...

We all know what happens every January; people get motivated and decide to challenge themselves to some crazy diet, work-out regime, or fast. I'm not going to lie, I am one of those people THIS year; last year did NOT happen. Well, let me take that back, I'm sort of one of those people; the reason I say that is because I started my "challenge"two days ago, NOT on January 1st! 

Anyway, my sister (in-law) Bekah, is definitely someone you want around or someone who's influencing your eating/workout habits. She runs regularly and eats healthy....exactly what I'm challenging myself to! The other day, I saw a photo of her dinner, 'Vegan Taco Soup'. It looked, OH so delicious, kind of like chili (or the photo above). I just had to try this, and yep, she was right, it was amazingly easy and delicious.

Here's Bekah's recipe, slightly modified:

Ingredients

1 large (28 oz) can of tomato sauce

1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained

1 can of chili beans (pinto), with sauce

1 can of dark red kidney beans

1 can of diced tomatoes (use Rotel if you want spicy, otherwise I suggest fire-roasted tomatoes)

10 oz. of corn (I used 1 can of corn, whole kernels)

1 small onion diced

1 bell pepper diced

1 tablespoon coconut oil

1 packet of taco seasoning (I make my own - google the recipe, and double the cumin)

1 quart of vegetable stock

*Optional: additional spices to your liking

*Optional: Fresh spinach, sour cream, jalapenos

Steps

1. Heat up the coconut oil and sizzle the diced onion and bell pepper for about 5 minutes.

2. Add the taco seasoning mix to the veggies and stir until fragrant.

3. Add ALL of the canned goods (and corn if using frozen) and continue cooking on medium-low heat.

4. Pour the vegetable stock until you have reached your desired soup consistency. I like to use the entire quart. 

5. Bring to a boil and simmer on low for at least 30 minutes. 

6. Salt and pepper to taste. 

*Optional: Line your bowl with fresh spinach, pour the hot soup over it, and enjoy with your favorite toppings. My FAVORITE is sour cream, it literally transforms the soup. 

I had mine topped with cheese and sour cream!

(Most of you will never hear me say this again, but, cheese was not necessary-still delicious, but if you're trying to be healthy, you won't miss it if you decide to skip it. On the other hand, sour cream, is always a must). 

Thanks, Bekah for introducing us to something so delicious and SO easy to make. I didn't even have to go shopping to make this; found everything in my pantry and fridge.

:)

Mexican Masterpiece

Taco bake / Mexican Lasagna

Simple.

Cheap.

Good.



(This picture does NOT do this meal justice)

Ingredients

1 lime

8 flour tortillas

1 lb of ground beef

1 can of chili beans, drained

5 cloves of garlic

1 onion

1/3 jar of salsa (your favorite, I used taco bell brand-medium)

Taco seasoning packet

3 tablespoons of queso (or chili con queso….or shredded cheese)

Shredded cheese (Mexican blend) for topping

Sour cream (optional)

Jalapenos (mandatory)

Hot sauce (I used "Eros Pistas", a hungarian chili paste)

STEPS

1. Preheat oven to 375 f
2. Dice onion and garlic, then sauté (over medium, medium/low) until onion is golden (adding the garlic the last minute).
3. Over medium heat, brown beef in a separate pan, then drain.
4. Add onion, garlic, and beef back into a pan and keep heat setting at low
5. Mix your taco seasoning packet with ½ a cup of water and add to beef.
6. Add queso or cheese into the beef, stir.
7. Add drained beans into the cheesy beef, stir.
8. Turn up the heat for a minute, stirring. This is when you can add your spice factor (hot sauce, crushed red pepper, anything!).
9. Spray PAM or any non-stick agent into a casserole dish.
10. Align two tortillas (side by side) on the bottom.
11. Layer 1/3 of the beef/bean mixture.
12. Add 2^nd layer of tortillas.
13. Layer 1/3 of the beef/bean mixture with the salsa.
14. Add 3^rd layer of tortillas.
15. Layer the rest of the beef/bean mixture, cover with last two tortillas, and sprinkle with cheese and jalapenos.
16. Cook uncovered in oven for about 15 minutes (or until the tortilla edges begin to brown)
17. Squeeze lime over the top before serving with sour cream!