Cheap, Fast , Easy TVP Vegan Tacos

This taco filling is made with TVP, also known as Textured Vegetable Protein. We buy the stuff dry in 25# bags for only pennies a pound - one bag easily lasts over a year (I keep it in the freezer).

Reconstituted, it has a texture sort-of like ground beef and you can flavor it however you'd like. If you've never tried it, it's easy and pretty much fool-proof. You can purchase TVP in plain, tannish, unflavored crumbles, or in dark brown "beef" or "sausage" flavors. I always use the plain, unflavored, so vary the seasonings here according to what you have.

These tacos are one of our weeknight staples; fast, easy, cheap and my kids love them! For even more of a short-cut, leave the onions and peppers out, dump in a cup of salsa instead and serve over chips as a "Mexican Sloppy Joe" sort of thing.

Fast, Easy, TVP Taco Filling

• 2 cups plain, unflavored TVP (textured vegetable protein)
• 2 1/2 cups water
• 1 cup tomato juice, V8 juice or watered down tomato sauce
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp ketchup
• 2 tbsp olive oil or margarine (for some reason, I prefer margarine here)
• 1 package or 3 Tbsp. your favorite taco seasoning/spice blend (I buy mine bulk and it's spicy but not overly salty, you may need to adjust to your preferences)
• 1 green, red or yellow bell pepper, chopped (optional)
• 1 jalapeno, finely minced (optional)
• 1/2 cup chopped onion (optional)
• 1/2 can corn, drained (optional)
  
• 1/2 can black beans, rinsed (optional)
  
• flour tortillas or taco shells

Preparation:
In a large skillet, heat the water, juice, soy sauce, ketchup over medium heat to almost boiling.
Add the dry TVP granules, stirring well. Turn off heat and cover. Allow the TVP to reconstitute for 5 - 7 minutes. If any liquid is left, you can drain it off.

Turn heat back to medium, add oil, then peppers, onions and taco seasoning, stirring well. Allow to cook for another 5 - 7 minutes, stirring frequently until vegetables soften and cook, and taco "meat" begins to dry out and clump and even stick to the pan a bit. Add optional corn and beans if you want them in the taco meat mixture (or just add to the taco later). Stir around to warm slightly.

Serve wrapped in a flour tortilla or hard taco shells with all the trimmings. We like our tacos piled high with "extras", it varies depending on what time, budget and the garden allow; favorites include avocados, onions, romaine, black beans, corn, sliced olives, shredded cabbage, cucumbers, vegan cheese and especially the heirloom tomatoes and cilantro that our garden is full of right now!

Tempeh-Vegetable Tacos

My "Sprouts" came home tonight wanting tacos in the worst way.

Unfortunately (and incredibly unusual at our house) I didn't have any beans or burger or 'cheeze' or lettuce or really much that was traditionally "taco-like", other than some nice organic corn tortillas...
AND I was way short on time... but tacos were what the natives were demanding, so tacos they got!

I coarsely grated some zucchini, tomato, carrot and onion and flash-sauteed it for less than a minute, just until the tomato got mushy.

Then I mashed an avocado with cilantro and lime, into a guacamole sort of thing, and crumbled some tempeh and smooshed it around in the pan and sauteed it with plain ol' canned tomato sauce and "mexican" spices until it almost looked like taco "meat"...

I browned the corn tortillas just a bit, folded them in half, and away we went...

The "tacos" turned out deeee-lish, and more importantly, my kids gobbled them without asking for (veggie) Taco Meat or 'cheeze' or olives or beans or salsa. All items I usually have on hand (except tonight). They aren't even tempeh fans but that didn't seem to matter either.

I thought they looked rather pretty, with all those colors, too.

Speaking of pretty, here's a Mother's Day picture of my Sprouts (which they hate!), complete with matching tee-shirts which I forced them to wear since it was MY day and I nostalgically wanted them to "match".

They never wear matching outfits any more - I miss those days... I realize they think they are MUCH too old to be dressed up in frilly, fussy matching "sister" outfits like I used to... and also, if they matched their sibling(s), even a little bit, you KNOW I would rush over with my camera and record the moment...
Good times!

Tacos with Pan-Fried Corn Tortilla 'Shells'.

Friday night dinner has always been "Mexican Night" in our house. And these tacos are probably our all-time favorite. OK, so maybe they're not authentically "Mexican" and if the title is confusing, we don't actually make our corn tortillas from scratch, but we take the soft corn tortillas (sometimes called "raw" or "uncooked" soft corn tortillas - like you'd use for enchiladas) and we fry them briefly until they're lightly golden, tender and slightly crispy. They are insanely good!
None of those cold, hard, brittle, stale store-bought taco shells for us!

The Sprouts have me make these every time they have guests over, and no matter how many we make, they're always INHALED... I think they manage to fool most omnivore types pretty well, as I've never had one of their little non-vegetarian friends (or anyone!) turn their nose up at them or ask questions about the "weird vegetarian meat"...

Home-Made Tacos

-- 24 soft corn tortillas

(being that I'm rather partial to all things New Mexican, I happen to like the ones from Mi Ranchito Foods in Silver City, NM, but obviously any soft corn tortilla will work)
-- Oil for frying.

(I like refined coconut oil, it leaves them the most tender, yet crispy, but not greasy at all! Soybean oil works pretty well too.)

*****
-- 1 package Boca Crumbles, crumbled Gimme Lean or 2 cups reconstituted TVP granules
-- 1 8 - 10 oz. can chopped tomatoes (I like RoTel brand but they may be too spicy for some...)
-- 1 cup frozen corn
-- 1/2 cup salsa

-- 1/2 cup water (may need more, some burger tends to dry out)
-- 1 can black beans, rinsed and well drained
-- 1 Tb. dry taco seasoning (use a commercial blend or make your own with cumin, chili powder, cayenne, oregano, etc...)

******
taco "fixins" according to preference:
- shredded lettuce (or cabbage is awesome!!)
- tomatoes
- onions
- chopped fresh cilantro
- olives
- Tofutti Sour Supreme (vegan sour cream)
- shredded vegan "cheese
- guacamole or cubes of avocado
- leftover 'Spanish Rice'

- chopped fresh jalapenos

- fire roasted green chile sauce

- salsa

To fry the tortillas:
(Yes, I said "FRY". No-one claimed these were low calorie!)
Heat 1/4 inch oil in cast iron skillet.
When very hot (but NOT smoking!) lay corn tortilla in. It will puff up in 15 - 30 seconds.
Fry for another 10 seconds or so, until just starting to get golden spots.
Flip carefully with tongs.
Fry another 20 seconds or until starting to brown. Using tongs, remove to paper towel.
Here's the the tricky part!
Quickly blot excess oil with a folded paper towel. (Careful, they're HOT!!)
Fold in half quickly before they start to cool.
Keep warm in covered dish in low oven.

Continue process until all tortillas are fried.

As you get the hang of it it gets easier. You can do several at a time, they'll overlap a bit but they still cook up just fine. (It's much easier than it sounds).

Taco "Meat" Filling:

Crumble burger in frying pan with a small bit of oil.

Add corn and beans and start to warm.

Puree salsa, tomatoes, water and seasoning in blender or food processor.

Add to burger mixture. Simmer on low while cooking taco shells. You may need to add water, depending on how much the burger absorbs and how long it simmers. It shouldn't be dry and it shouldn't be overly juicy...

Add the fixin's!

Shred, slice, chop, grate... Prepare whatever condiments you prefer.

Serve taco "meat" filling and other goodies in bowls and let everyone dig in and make their own tacos just how they like them!