Let’s taco bout how amazing this fun, party-style meal is!

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This is the perfect recipe if you can’t decide how you want to eat your taco filling. As mentioned in previous posts, my husband recently got his wisdom teeth removed and can’t eat a lot of hard foods. I really wanted a nacho night, but that wasn’t in the cards for him. So I split everything into dip bowls so everyone could decide what they wanted to eat. It was a great meal to enjoy while watching a movie and I can’t wait to try it out next time I have guests over.

In this recipe, you will be using the ingredients to make guacamole, nacho cheese sauce, and vegan taco meet. I also used Kite Hill vegan sour cream as an additional dip. They all paired really well as both tacos and nachos!

Ingredient details:

• Avocados – Get medium-firm ones that should be still ripe but easily mashable. You don’t want dark bits in your guacamole, but too firm and you won’t be able to mash them. Finding the right avocado is a skill that just takes practice and you’ll eventually get pretty good at it.

• Lime – Get a fresh lime or two. You can squeeze the juice of one lime for the guacamole and use the extra lime for your taco or nachos!

• White onions – You’ll need two. One will be used for the taco meat and the other will be used for the guacamole. I like white onion for this recipe, but red or yellow will work as well. It really just depends on how sharp you want your onion flavor to be.

• Cilantro – Freshly chopped cilantro is my favorite. Of course if your wacky taste buds think cilantro tastes like soap, please ignore this part so you can enjoy your meal.

• Lentils – I used brown lentils. Lentils double in size when cooked through to be soft, so you only need to measure out 1/2 cup of uncooked lentils for this recipe.

• Kidney beans – I just used canned kidney beans. I really like the combination of flavors and textures when adding kidney beans and lentils together to make a meat base.

• Carrot – I used a medium carrot and chopped in small bits. This will be for the taco meat and it tastes so good and adds extra nutrition!

• Garlic – I used 4 minced cloves for this recipe for the taco meat.

• Corn starch – This is the thickening agent that will turn your milk and nutritional yeast into cheese. It’s magic.

• Plant Milk – I always use oatmilk, but any nutmilk will do as well.

• Nutritional Yeast – This gives the nacho cheese both the cheesy flavor and will give it the yellow color that you look for in classic nacho cheese.

• Jalapeños – I like to add in the jalapeños to make the nacho cheese a bit spicier. You will be adding in seasonings too, but I just think it tastes too muted without the jalapeño flavor popping.

• Seasonings: You’ll need cumin, paprika, chili powder and salt. Each one will be used in the taco meat and the nacho cheese, so pay attention to the measurements and instructions.

• Tortillas and tortilla chips

• Optional: Kite Hill vegan sour cream

Detailed Instructions:

Make the taco meat: Finely dice the carrot. In a medium saucepan, start with cooking the lentils, because it takes the longest. Do 1/2 cup uncooked lentils, 1 cup water, and add the carrot to soften. Cook on medium until water has evaporated. Once the lentils are done, add 1 chopped onion, the can of kidney beans, and the larger measurements of chili powder, paprika, and cumin. Add salt to taste if you want to boost the flavor a little bit. Warm all ingredients and slightly mash and mix until it forms a meaty texture.

Make the nacho cheese: In a small saucepan, measure the corn starch and add a little bit of water (about 2 tbsp) and mix until it the corn starch is dissolved. Set stove to medium heat. Add the milk, nutritional yeast, jalapeño, and smaller measurement of spices. Reduce heat to low and stir frequently to avoid too much clumping. Remove from heat once sauce becomes a thick but runny substance.

Make the guacamole: Dice the second onion and chop the cilantro. Scoop out avocado flesh and place in a medium bowl. Add chopped onion and cilantro. Cut the lime in half and squeeze out all the juice into the bowl. Mash all ingredients well.

Toast the chips: I like the chips to feel like restaurant-style chips, and my favorite thing about a Mexican restaurant is the warmed chips. Just pour out the number of chips you plan to serve onto a stainless steel oven pan and bake on 350° for about 6-8 minutes or until fully warm.

*Note: I used the Wood Paddle with 4 Speckled Stoneware Bowls by Hearth & Hand™ with Magnolia to serve the items used for this meal.

Recipe List

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 30 minutes

Serves: 5

Ingredients:

• 2 avocados
• 2 tbsp lime juice (1 lime)
• 2 white onions
• 1 tbsp fresh cilantro
• 1 cup cooked lentils
• 15oz kidney beans
• 1 medium carrot
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 tbsp corn starch
• 1 cup plant milk
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1/2 tsp sliced canned jalapeños
• 2 tbsp + 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp + 1/8 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp paprika + 1/8 tsp paprika
• salt to taste
• Tortillas and tortilla chips
• optional: vegan sour cream

Instructions:

Meat:

1. Chop carrot and onion.
2. Cook lentils and carrot on medium heat until lentils are cooked through (about 20 minutes)
3. Add seasonings, chopped onion, and kidney beans and cook for 5 minutes.

Cheese:

1. In a small saucepan, measure the corn starch and add a little bit of water (about 2 tbsp) and mix until it the corn starch is dissolved.
2. Set stove to medium heat. Add the milk, nutritional yeast, jalapeño, and smaller measurement of spices.
3. Reduce heat to low and stir frequently until thickened (about 5 minutes).

Guacamole:

1. Dice onion and chop cilantro.
2. Scoop out avocado flesh and mash in bowl with onion, cilantro and lemon juice.

Optional: toast chips and serve sour cream with the meal.

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