Raw Taco Salad with Spicy Hemp "Cheese" Dressing - Vegan as always

Raw Vegan Taco Salad with Spicy Hemp "Cheese" Dressing

Who doesn't love taco salad - especially guilt-free eat all you want taco salad!  We eat taco salad frequently and I tend to change up some of ingredients each time, as well as the spicy "cheese" dressing. 

Above is one version that I have loaded with a rainbow of veggies on top of a bowl of greens: cherry tomatoes, red onion, green onion, red & yellow bell pepper, corn, avocado, cilantro and my Walnut Mushroom Filling that I tweaked just a tad bit (recipe below).  

Oh and Mark likes beans in his sometimes (beans do not like me), so I added pinto beans in his bowl.  On the side are my raw vegan taco chips that I have yet to write up the recipe for, but I'll do that in good time.

Raw Vegan Taco Salad with Spicy Hemp "Cheese" Dressing

This version is just about the same, but I added red cabbage and omitted the red & yellow bell peppers.  Both were served with my Spicy Hemp "Cheese" Dressing.

You can't go wrong with taco salad, or salad in general, so fill your bowls with lots of greens and add whatever veggies you love to your hearts content!


Walnut Mushroom Taco Filling II - raw & vegan
(for my nut-free version, go here)

1 heaping cup walnuts

2 1/2 cups quartered baby portobellos (8oz package)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp ancho chili powder (I typically use more)
1 tsp smoked cumin powder
1 tsp oregano
1 Tbs Braggs liquid aminos (or Tamari)

Put all ingredients in order into food processor and pulse process until you have small bits that resemble taco meat.  Don't over process or you will end up with pate.  This will be light in color, but will darken after a little while. 

Store in fridge for a couple hours to let the ingredients mingle or serve immediately.  This is best when eaten fresh, but will last in the fridge for one extra day.

Note:  I change this recipe up almost every time I make it by adding other spices, increasing the heat, etc.  It's very versatile, so adjust to your taste buds.

 

Spicy Hemp "Cheese" Dressing

 

1 small red bell pepper - seeded

1 small banana pepper- seeded (or pepper of choice for heat)

1 large clove garlic

1/2 cup hemp heart seeds

1/4 cup nutritional yeast (needed for "cheese" flavor)

1/4 tsp ancho chili powder

juice from 1 lime

good pinch of sea salt

*1/4 cup water

 

Put all ingredients into blender and blend until smooth and creamy.  You might have to work the ingredients down with a tamper (if using vitamix) or stop and push/scrape down as needed.  *You may want to add a little more water to thin down if you like or to desired consistency.  This dressing will thicken up a little more while in the fridge.

 

You can adjust the heat by adding less of the pepper and chili powder and/or adjust to your tastes buds. 

 

Store in fridge in airtight container for up to 4-5 days, but is best eaten fresh and within 3 days.

 

Peace☮

Rocki

Raw Vegan Nut-Free Taco Filling, Pico de Gallo and Green Baja Sauce

Pico de Gallo, Nut-Free Taco Filling, Green Baja Sauce - Raw and Vegan

For those who like or need to keep their meals nut-free, I altered my Walnut Mushroom Filling to accommodate you.  I like to keep most of our meals either nut-free or at least enjoy them sparingly.

This version I tweaked ever so slightly and replaced the walnuts with raw sunflower seeds.  It has a nice texture and same great flavor as my original recipe.  Perfect replacement for the walnuts.  I'm also working on another one, which I've made before but want to tweak it a bit more before posting it.

I also created another new sauce to go with our raw tacos tonight.  Mark loves my hemp cheeses, but I wanted something different and was thinking of a Baja sauce.  It came out fresh and bursting with flavor!

My pico de gallo is a staple here, we eat this regularly and it was funny to actually measure it.  I change this up frequently, so go with your taste buds.  Oh and yes, there was guacamole with our raw tacos.  Can't eat Mexican food without guacamole!  Any meal for that matter.

Nut-Free Taco Filling - Sunflower Seeds

1 heaping cup raw sunflower seeds

2 1/2 cups quartered baby portobellos (8oz package)

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp ancho chili powder (I typically use more)

1 tsp smoked cumin powder

2 tsp Braggs liquid aminos (or Tamari)

 

Put sunflower seeds into food processor and process until you have small bits.  Add in remaining ingredients and pulse process until it resembles taco meat.  Don't over process or you will end up with pate - unless you want pate.  This will be light in color, but will darken after a little while. 

 

Store in fridge for a couple hours to let the ingredients mingle or eat immediately.  This is best when eaten fresh, but will last in the fridge one extra day.

 

Note: Feel free to adjust the spices to your to your taste buds - I do that all the time.

 

Green Baja Sauce

1/2 yellow bell pepper
1 small pepper for heat of choice - or use more yellow bell
1/4 cup roughly chopped onion
1 clove garlic
1/3 cup roughly chopped cilantro
juice of 1 lime
1/2 cup hemp heart seeds
water as needed

Put all ingredients in blender and just a tiny bit of water to help get it going.  Blend until smooth and creamy.  Add a little more water at a time to thin it out as desired.

Store in fridge for up to 3 days.


Pico de Gallo

3 medium tomatoes roughly chopped (about 2 1/2 cups)
1/4 cup cilantro (small handful)
1/2 cup roughly chopped green onion
1/2 cup roughly chopped white or red onion (I use a mix of both)
2 cloves garlic - *minced (or see below for easy way to mince)
juice of 1 lime
jalepeno of desired amount or other pepper for heat
pinch or two of sea salt

Put all ingredients into food processor and pulse process until broken down into chunky little pieces.  Or, process until your desired consistency.  I like to put mine in mesh strainer and let most of the juice strain out so it doesn't make our tacos soppy wet.  Your choice.

*TIP: to mince garlic the easy way, turn food processor on and with it running toss in the garlic cloves and voila'! minced garlic!  Scrape down the sides and then add in the rest of the ingredients.

Hope you enjoy the recipes and have fun creating!

Peace☮
Rocki

Taco Night! Raw Vegan Walnut Mushroom Filling and more

Raw Vegan Tacos and Dip

 

I'm going to get right to the recipes as I'm a bit short on time, so I'll just let you look at the yummy pictures.

 

Raw Vegan Tacos with Baby Romaine

 

However, I will say that it's taken me a while to post more of my raw vegan Mexican food because, just like when I used to cook, I never measured - especially when it came to Mexican food.  Anyway, I finally did. 

 

Raw Vegan Tacos with my Soft Spicy Corn Tortillas

 

Walnut Mushroom Taco Filling - raw & vegan

(for my nut-free version, go here)

 

1 heaping cup walnuts

2 1/2 cups quartered baby portobellos (8oz package)

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp ancho chili powder (I typically use more)

1 tsp smoked cumin powder

1/2 Tbs Braggs liquid aminos (or Tamari)

 

Put all ingredients in order into food processor and pulse process until you have small bits that resemble taco meat.  Don't over process or you will end up with pate.  This will be light in color, but will darken after a little while. 

 

Store in fridge for a couple hours to let the ingredients mingle or eat immediately.  This is best when eaten fresh, but will last in the fridge for one extra day.

 

Note:  I change this recipe up almost every time I make it by adding other spices, increasing the heat, etc.  It's very versatile, so adjust to your taste buds.

 

For the rest of the recipes you can find them here:

Spicy Hemp Cheese - nut-free

Soft Spicy Corn Tortillas

 

My pico de gallo will be in the next post.

 

Peace☮

Rocki

Raw Soft Spicy Corn Tortillas - Vegan and Gluten-Free

Raw Vegan Tacos

Who says you can't have tacos when living a raw vegan lifestyle?  Not me!  Mark and I LOVE tacos and we practically devour them once we sit down.  

 

We used to eat them on greens, but once I started playing around making a variety of flat breads from sweet to savory, Italian to Mexican, etc., I finally came up with a version of what I call my Soft Spicy Corn Tortillas.  

 

Soft Spicy Corn Tortillas - Raw, Vegan and Gluten-Free

Soft Spicy Corn Tortillas

 

1 1/2 cups flax meal

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

Pinch of sea salt

 

Put into large bowl, stir to combine and set aside.

 

1/3 cup sundried tomatoes - soaked in 1 1/2 cups water to soften, drain and reserve water

2 cups roughly chopped tomatoes

3/4 cup roughly chopped onion 

1 cup full of corn

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp ancho chili pepper

1 tsp smoked cumin powder

 

Put all of the above (veggies and spices, not flax mix) into a food processor and process until well blended.  There will be little bits and that is perfect.  I do a taste test in case I need to add more spices.  If you do not like spicy, then omit the cayenne and ancho chili pepper.

 

Add the reserved soaked water from the sundried tomatoes to the flax meal bowl and combine well.  Add the above mixture and stir until combined.  It will be thick, but if it seems too thick to spread, add some water a little at a time - NOT too thin or watery though.  It needs to remain a thick spreadable mixture, almost like thick pancake batter.

 

Sometimes I can fill up 3 dehydrator trays, 2 large and 1 small, but this varies.  Line the mesh tray with a teflex sheet then spread the mixture out evenly until it’s around ¼” thick or so - you don't want it too thin. as they will shrink up.  You'll need to work with the mixture like pizza dough as it will be kind of gummy.

 

Dehydrate at 145 degrees for 1 hour then lower to 115 degrees for a few hours until done - approximately 3-6 hours.  Time will vary due to moisture, weather, etc.  I rotate the trays around during the dehydration process just to get them evenly dehydrated.  

 

Once they are dry on top, remove them from the teflex sheet and onto the mesh sheet.  If you haven’t done this before, simply put a mesh sheet on top of the tortilla along with a tray, flip it over then slowly peel the teflex sheet away from the tortilla.  Put them back into the dehydrator until done. 

 

Soft Corn Tortillas in the dehydrator - about half-way done

 

Cut into desired pieces and once cooled, place them in a Ziploc bag or other container - this will soften them to be more pliable.  I leave mine on the counter as they are eaten within 2 days.  Otherwise, store in fridge.

  

 

Raw Vegan Enchilada Style Veggie Wraps

Besides soft tacos, I use these to make a variety of raw vegan dishes - such as veggie wraps, enchiladas, sandwiches, etc.  

I'll also post the recipes for my "cheese" sauce, pico de gallo and taco filling.  In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this recipe!

Peace ☮
Rocki