Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Vegan Tempeh Tacos

Soft tacos used to be a staple when I was eating meat. I'd Foreman Grill up some chicken, make some beans, top them with avocado and/or cheese and that was it. Easy, quick filling. But, I stopped eating them after going vegan because they seemed like they'd be empty. So I'd go with chips and guac and beans instead.

But a couple nights ago, I made something new: tempeh tacos. (by the way, I've never cooked tempeh before). They were awesome! And they're even faster to make than the chicken ones. I used LightLife three grain tempeh, cut it into 1/4 inch slices, and pan fried the strips til they were crispy.

While that was frying up, I put black beans in a small pot with some corn salsa, hot sauce, garlic, and red pepper. I mash them up a bit so they are sort of halfway between refried and regular beans. That's my fave. I flipped the tempeh. The, I made my guac with lemon juice, garlic, a dash of salt, red pepper and fresh jalapeno. That's it! My dinner was done.


I have to say, no b.s., they were awesome. The tempeh filled in perfectly for the chicken. It didn't taste like chicken, or much of anything, but it didn't need to. The beans, guac and hot sauce had tons of flavor. The tempeh just gave it texture and weight. Perfect. Plus, just a half package of tempeh has 20 grams of protein.

5 comments:

  1. Looks and sounds delicious. My first tempeh experience was not so hot, but I didn't properly research how to prepare it. Gonna have to give this a try...

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  2. You go! I have a few delish tempeh recipes on my blog, so check them out! Tempeh is bomb.

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  3. Mmmme, that looks yummy. I'm going to give it a try.

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  4. Sounds good, I'll give it a try!
    My taco/tortilla filling consists of fried onions and garlic, dried red chili peppers, canned chopped tomatoes and canned kidney beans & seasoning - basic, but delicious! (or I think so, anyway :)) In the tortilla/taco I usually combine it with some basmati rice, guacamole, fresh coriander (cilantro), cashew-based 'sour cream' and cashew and nutritional yeast 'cheese'.
    Vegan cheese alternatives are hard to find and cost a fortune here, so I tend to make my own. I don't use this for tacos, but this is a really great 'cheese' spread recipe:
    http://ryanthibodaux.greenoptions.com/2007/03/30/weekly-diy-vegan-cashew-cheese/
    It doesn't have a cheesy texture of course, but it has a remarkably cheese-like flavour, I love it!

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