Sunday, February 8, 2009

Totally raw, totally awesome tacos

I think during our transition to even healthier foods than we usually eat.. I've discovered our new favorite dish: TOTALLY RAW TACOS!

Yes, I was a tad worried. Much of the comfort in tacos, veggie burgers or even pizza.. is the warmth of the food.. at least for me. So, with these raw food main dishes, would my food just not seem as satisfying?

I can answer this question with an honest and emphatic 'NO!'

The key to our transition definitely includes finding our few favorite staples, just like it is with anyone else's eating styles in their own home. Most people find a few favorite meals and repeat them... with a few surprises mixed in between the favs. Well, I've got a new fav!! (and it only takes 5 minutes to make)

Someone cut the veggies while the other makes the raw taco stuffing.

Ingredients for raw taco meat:
1 c pecans
1/2 c sunflower seeds
1.5 t cumin
1 t chili powder
3/4 t coriander
2 t Nama Shoyu (or soy sauce or Bragg's)
1/2 t jalapeno (or your fav hot spice)
3 T water
optional: 1/2 t celtic sea salt

Pulse, pulse, pulse until chopped up - but not blended. (NOTE: Tyler said he'd prefer it with a few more T of water. But I think the choppy-ness of these was perfect. So try it this way, then if you don't like it add a few T of water.)



Quality spices are KEY! If you think those fresher, more aromatic spices are too expensive.. you're wrong! I did chop, dehydrate and grind my own jalapeno spice - but the others we bought fresh. And I am so glad! Our kitchen always smells fantastic, especially after we open the spice drawer.

Trust me, they're worth it. The cumin, coriander and Nama Shoyu smell GREAT in this dish!!

Tyler also said we should get butter lettuce for our next lettuce wrap - but I think the romaine was perfect for these wraps. So, see which ones you like best! (We use butter lettuce every chance we get. But where we live now, it's pretty hard to find.. and I think romaine is a great, crunchy, flavorful replacement. Just make sure to get romaine with the darkest green leaves that you can.)

We will definitely make this dish on a regular basis!



Serve with:
chopped tomatoes (we had 3 roma between us)
diced avocados (1 per person)
sprouts (we love the "zesty mix" by Now Foods.. so easy to sprout and tastes great on just about anything)
1/2 lime per person



Perfect!

Another option: Tyler loves his raw tacos in a toasted corn shell. They're great, too!

9 comments:

  1. Yum! I know what I'm making for dinner tonight!

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  2. Oh WOW! We have friends that just brought their daughter home from Haiti and folks have been making meals for them. They eat raw, and I don't think a lot of people gave them raw meals. I admit, I have never "cooked" raw meals, but I made these tacos for them. OUTSTANDING! Everyone loves them....even the Cooked Omnivore people!

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  3. "Tyler" should take note that toasted corn shells are not "Raw"

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  4. I find it funny that you put "Tyler" in quotes.

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  5. best tacos ever!!! incredible

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  6. I love pecan-based faux-meats but they get a little expensive if you make them too often, especially if you are using organic pecans. So I've been working recently with this raw taco meat recipe which uses primarily sunflower seed (and a little walnut for good measure). It's delicious, and even better I think when dehydrated.

    try this wrapped up in a collard leaf!

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  7. We Always just make it with whatever raw nuts or seeds we have on hand. It's the fresh spices (and avocado, of course) that matter most!.. the crunch of the seeds or nuts can vary. Dont worry about following the recipe exactly. So feel free to try with whatever you have. We always change it up a little when we make it anyway, so it's never the same.

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  8. I made these the other day and they were delish! I had a lot of people show interest so I'm going to post about it tomorrow with a link to you!

    Amber
    www.lifelovegreen.com

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