South of the Border - FAST!

 OK, raise your hand if you work full time or are a full-time parent.  Alright, we are mostly on the same page here!  I went back to work this week after being on spring break for nine days.  Wow, have I been feeling it...every day I am exhausted.  Today I had a lot of extra work to do, so I was at school longer than usual and then I had my 30-45-minutes-depending-on-the-traffic-commute.  So of course, the last thing I want to do is think about dinner.  But I know as soon as I walk in the door there is going to be a small mob cornering me and asking, "What's for dinner?  We're HUNGRY!"  Yup...so I start thinking about it as I am

sitting in traffic.  Cooking vegan meals is easy when you know how to "veganize" the stuff that it used to take you a few easy minutes to prepare  before you went veg.  Tonight I did tacos!!  There's nothing to it, but you have to have the right ingredients on-hand. 

Vegan Taco Night

1.  Buy the following NO MATTER WHAT:  some kind of taco kit, (watch the ingredients to make sure it's all vegan, I like Old El Paso) Boca crumbles or something crumbly like tempeh, veggies like tomatoes, onions, and olives, some nice avacado, salsa, vegan sour cream.

2.  Buy the rest of this stuff if you want to:  can of black beans, can of green chilies, tomatillos, saffron rice (it's so good!).

3.  Put your Boca crumbles or crumble your tempeh into a skillet and add a little olive oil, water, and the taco seasoning packet that came with your taco kit.  Heat until the liquid is gone, on medium.

4.  Chop up veggies and put in little bowls or leave on the cutting board.  Sometimes the grocery has already chopped up veggies, which is nice if you are pressed for time.  Sometimes I cheat and just get stuff like chopped tomatoes, peppers, and onions from the salad bar!

5.  Heat your oven to 350 degrees and then bake your taco shells for a few minutes.  If you are starving, you do not have to wait to do this, but I think you should because they get crunchier and taste better.  

6.  OPTIONAL:  Cook the rice, follow the directions on the packet.  Mix the chilies with the beans and a little salt and pepper and heat that separately.  Once these things are cooked, put in bowls and set out as sides.

7.  Put everything out on the counter or table and tell you family to assemble their own.  They can make tacos the old fashioned way or put everything in the middle of the plate and make a "taco salad" like I do.  Picky kids (or spouses) will love this, and you will be a hero (even if it's for one night only).  This is also a great meal to impress a date, ladies and gentleman.  Well, it would impress me!  Serve with some good Mexican beer and a movie!  Bravo!