Recipe 29- Lentil Tacos

Recipe 29- Lentil Tacos 

I have been eyeing this recipe in the book for quite sometime. If your family is anything like mine, then you probably make tacos at least once a month. My kids have been huge lovers of taco night and really look forward to it. I thought this recipe would be an interesting take on the traditional ground beef style taco. I was also wondering how it would go over with my kids. 

This recipe is also a fairly easy one, it just takes a little thinking ahead. Lentils take some time to cook and become tender. In this case it took about 35-40 mins. But don't be discouraged by time with this one. I was pleasantly surprised at how delicious the lentils are when dressed up with the taco seasonings. 

I sliced up some onions and garlic, shed plenty of tears in the process. My husband said " are you about to burst out crying?" ... Well yes, yes I am... stupid onions! :) 

Everything went into my large skillet and were left to soften. I then added in my seasoning. 

Now in the picture below is my spice drawer. I built this myself a few months ago when my spice collection was rapidly growing making all of these recipes. 

I dug into the drawer and pulled out the chilli pepper and cumin. Now the recipe called for ground cumin and all I had was cumin seeds. 

HOW DO I NOT HAVE GROUND CUMIN IN ALL OF THESE OPTIONS!? 

Stupid me decided to be crafty and try and smash the seeds with my marble rolling pin and a baggie filled with seeds. This DOES NOT WORK. 

I gave up and tossed the seeds in and hoped for the best. PS, they worked out just fine! 

After the spices have had a few minutes to warm up in the pan, next came the lentils. I measured out my lentils and water and in they went. They are left to cook in the pan with a tight fitting lid until they are soft and tender.

While the lentils were cooking away, I started to prepare my toppings for he tacos. 

Now the assembly of these tacos is quite genius in my opinion. 

First you lay down a soft tortilla, then add a leaf of lettuce. A hard shelled taco is added next. 

This method hold those inevitably broken hard taco shells together while you dig in, but it also adds the the greatest texture of soft and crunchy in one bite! To be honest, from here on out, this is how tacos will be made in our house. 

Our selection of toppings were some tex mex cheese, corn & bean salsa and some cilantro. 

About 40 minutes later, my lentils were done cooking and the lovely aroma of the spices were hovering in my kitchen. I also had many tiny visitors coming to check in on the progress of the beloved tacos. 

The kids were ready to eat! 

I spooned in the lentil filling and then topped it off with cheese, salsa and cilantro. I could not wait to dig in and compare how this held up to our monthly taco night.

I was shocked! 

These were DELICIOUS!

I can't tell you how many times I said "wow" as I ate these, it was a lot! 

The kids also really enjoyed these tacos and even my apprehensive husband agreed that they were great. He wasn't too sure about the lentils, but I think this changed his mind. 

The tacos were gobbled down in no time and we had plenty of leftovers for the next day.

I will quote myself here " If I closed my eyes and bit into this taco, I would not know it wasn't meat" 

The spice seasoning in these is so well done, that it would be very hard to tell between meat and lentils.

The lentils had a mild flavouring and when its amongst all the other flavours, its just as good or even better then the meat option. 

These are a MUST try! I think this would be a great way to introduce lentils into your cooking, I think you will be pleasantly surprised by how great they are, and hey maybe you can convert your family or kids as well. :) 

I can't wait to make these again! 

As always my compliments to the Chef and cheers to you, my friends! 

Also if you are interested in lentils and some great recipes, Check out Chef Michael Smith and his journey as the "lentil hunter". He has recently released a web series about his travels and cooking with lentils. He also has some great recipes available as well. 

His videos are just jaw dropping, and gave me a huge urge to travel! 

Check them out! 

 http://www.lentils.ca/lentilhunter/