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Vegan Tacos with Nut-Meat and Pineapple Salsa Recipe

A while ago I took on the challenge of being completely vegan (no meat, eggs, dairy, etc) for a week to support World Vegetarian Awareness Month. I thought I might feel a little restricted or deprived with what I could eat, but the opposite happened – it forced me to be more creative. Hand on heart, I can say that I’d choose some of the meals I made during that time over any meat dish – and the same goes for my meat-loving husband. I’m not saying we need to cut out meat completely, but I do think that including at least a couple of meat-free meals in your diet every week is good for our health and the environment. To make this recipe gluten-free ensure that you use Tamari soy sauce and gluten-free corn tacos.
Course Lunch, Main
Servings 4
Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Kid Friendly

Ingredients
  

Nut mince

  • ¾ cup walnuts
  • ¾ cup roasted almonds
  • ½ cup sundried tomatoes chopped
  • 1 clove garlic (small) or ½ medium clove, minced
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • ½ teaspoon ground cumin
  • ½ teaspoon ground coriander
  • ¼ teaspoon ground chilli or cayenne pepper
  • tablespoons soy sauce or tamari
  • 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Salsa

  • cups pineapple or mango, ripe diced
  • ½ red onion finely diced
  • 3-5 vine-ripened tomatoes diced
  • ¾ cup coriander chopped
  • 1-2 tablespoons lime of lemon juice

Guacamole

  • avocados flesh of 2 just-ripe
  • 3-4 tablespoons lime or lemon juice

To serve

  • 12 soft corn tortillas or crispy corn taco shells
  • cup pickled jalapeños

Instructions
 

  • To make the nut-mince, place all ingredients in a food processor and pulse a few times until ingredients are crumbly and just combined – be careful that you don’t over-process the mixture or else it will lose its crumbly texture and be too smooth. The texture should reassemble that of crumbly cooked mince.
  • Combine all salsa ingredients and season to taste with salt, pepper, lime or lemon juice and a drizzle of extra-virgin olive or avocado oil.
  • Mash avocado and lime or lemon juice together, and season to taste with salt and pepper.
  • Cook tortillas or taco shells according to packet instructions – generally taco shells you bake in the oven at 180degC for about 5 minutes, and soft tortillas you heat in a hot fry pan with a little drizzle of oil.
  • To serve, place all components of the meal in the middle of the table for people to help themselves and build their own tacos. To build a taco, spoon some nut-mince, salsa and guacamole into a tortilla/taco, top with a few jalapeños and eat!