Oooh, pretty! I actually made these chickpeas into tacos (instead of taco salad, like last time). This October has been so summery feeling here in Kansas that I’m still craving summer foods. And nothing says summer like tacos! The arugula seriously complements the flavor of the roasted chickpeas, so I recommend it. I feel like I’m getting really into different kinds of lettuce–when did I become that person?
Have I written about these before? No! That seems impossible, since they are one of the most delicious foods on the face of the earth. This is the first dish I made my husband, lo those many months ago when I first became a vegan, that he actually thought was better than meat. Not just “as good as” or “would be good with” but “much better.”
It’s a dish from Vegan Brunch, but I always make it for dinner. Basically, you take seitan, do delicious things to it with stewed tomatoes and spices and chipotles. Then top it with pineapple salsa! Usually I make the salsa super chunky (like it is in the original recipe) but I discovered that it’ll stay on the taco better if it’s more chopped up.
This time I also made my own corn tortillas. Note to self: buy tortilla press. I didn’t realize that corn tortillas were so easy to make at home, but they totally are. My two-year-old actually helped me make them, not fake helped. They’re that easy! And I love that I can actually bring out my Viva Vegan occasionally, because I feel muy guilty that I haven’t made anything much from that book.
Courico Tacos are not just for brunch! Eat them all the time. ALL THE TIME.
I literally cannot stop making taco salad. It’s just so good! Everything I love about both tacos and salads, thrown together in a bowl. Also, it’s a perfect excuse to buy corn chips, which I love with a burning and undying passion.
So, this is just basic homemade salsa (with homegrown tomatoes–thanks country friends!), baked chickpeas and edamole from the Happy Herbivore. I did buy one of those huge Florida avocados, but it went bad before I could make dinner. I think it was probably bad when I got it. But…crazy avocado! How could I resist?
What I’m saying is, make taco salad. Make as much taco salad as you can possibly eat before the summer is over, because when fall comes, you will not want to eat that sh*t. You will want squashes and casseroles and noodles up to your eyeballs. But right now, summer is king, and tacos are where it’s at.
Good grief. This salad is not only immense, it is incredibly delicious. I’ve made this every two weeks since becoming a vegan, it’s my most beloved creation in all of Appetite for Reduction. You’ve seen bits of this before in my Six-Layer Dip, but here it is in all it’s salady glory.
I did switch things up a little bit, for the first time, tonight. I added a little can of roasted green chilies to the salsa dressing portion. My husband loooooves green chilies, and they are rather rarely used in most of the vegan cooking I’ve been doing. So sad. It really made something that is basically perfect even perfecter. And the fact that I got to use cilantro I grew made it all the better. The cilantro in my garden is so much more tender than the kind I buy in the store, and it has a much stronger flavor. Go me!
I’ve also figured out that magical dieting mystery where if you put something on a big plate, it feels like you are eating more. I have these giant plates that are basically the size of hub caps, or small wagon wheels. But if I make the salad very spread out and flat, by the time I’m done eating I feel super full. Either that, or my stomach no longer requires the massive portions I once used to feed myself. And yet, I still could eat a dozen cookies, one sitting, no contest. Go ahead, challenge me. I dare you!
unethical vegan 