Lentil-Walnut Meat Tacos in Lettuce Cups
We’re extra excited about this week’s recipes over here in the Minnie Chef’s Kitchen! We always enjoy doing some themed cooking, and this week, the theme is football parties! An old classmate of mine has a collaborative beer tasting show, called Beer Undercover, that he broadcasts live every Sunday morning at 10 a.m. on Periscope. If you’re a beer drinker, you should definitely tune in to this fun, informative, and interactive show about all things beer!
We came up with the idea of doing a Minnie Chef and Beer Undercover collaboration to tie together some beer with some bites. So, we took a couple of football party classics and reinvented them a little bit and paired them with a couple of beers. In an effort to achieve a balance, we put a healthy, vegan spin on traditional tacos, and made a vegan version of a pretty traditional—traditionally not so healthy—beer cheese dip with pretzel bites. Both of these recipes will be featured on this upcoming Sunday’s (8/30) episode of Beer Undercover, so don’t forget to tune in live at 10!
These tacos are made with a lentil-walnut meat, pico de gallo and an avocado crema. The lentil walnut-meat is a delicious and healthy alternative to greasy ground beef. The pico de gallo is made from all fresh ingredients and the avocado crema is a great alternative to cheese and sour cream. And, there’s no need to top these tacos with shredded lettuce because we’ve replaced the tortilla shell with a crisp lettuce cup!
| Yields | Prep Time | Cook Time | Total Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 dozen tacos | 20 mins. | 35 mins. | 55 mins. |
Ingredients:
- One head of butter lettuce
For the meat:
- 1 cup uncooked lentils
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ white onion, finely diced
- ¾ cup chopped walnuts
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon taco seasoning
For the Pico de Gallo:
- 2 tomatoes, chopped
- ½ red onion, finely chopped
- 1 clove of garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon freshly chopped parsley
- 1 tablespoon freshly chopped cilantro
- ½ a jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- Juice of 2 limes
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
For the Avocado Crema:
- 1/2 an avocado
- 1 tablespoon vegan mayonnaise
- Juice of 1/4 a lime
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper
Directions:
For the meat:
- Fill a medium size pot half way with water. Bring to a boil and add in the lentils. Cover and reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for approximately 25 minutes until lentils are just tender.
- While the lentils are cooking, heat a large pan over low to medium heat. Add in olive oil, onion, and walnut. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until onions are soft and translucent, about 10 minutes. Once cooked, stir in garlic and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Once done, turn off heat.
- When lentils are cooked, transfer to a colander and drain. Once drained and relatively dry, transfer lentils to the pan with the onion and walnut mixture. Top with taco seasoning and toss altogether to coat.
For the Pico de Gallo:
- Combine tomato, red onion, garlic, parsley, cilantro, and jalapeno in a bowl.
- Season with red wine vinegar, lime juice, cumin, salt and pepper.
- Stir well to combine.
For the Avocado Crema:
- Cut avocado in half and spoon the flesh into a blender or food processor.
- Add vegan mayonnaise, lime juice, salt and pepper to the blender or food processor.
- Blend until smooth and creamy.
Assemble the tacos by gently peeling off each cup-like sheet of lettuce. Place the butter lettuce cups on a large plate. Spoon approximately 3 tablespoons of the lentil-walnut meat onto each cup. Top with 1-2 tablespoons of pico de gallo and drizzle on the avocado crema. Serve and enjoy!
