Vegan Ancho Lentil Tacos

From my last post, you could probably tell that Mexican food is a staple in my diet. This recipe also intrigued me because of the meat substitute that Isa chose. I have tried many fake meat products, but none of them stuck mostly due to the fact that they often seem a little too real. I became a vegetarian seven months ago due to the fact that i simply don't enjoy eating meat, so eating these fake meat products just freaks me out. This is why I was so excited to try lentils. I have heard of it being used as a meat substitute in sloppy joes and sheaphard's pie and now tacos and I couldn't wait to see what I thought of it.

Ingredients:

 Ancho Spice Mix:

2 teaspoons ground ancho chile

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon salt

Lentils:

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 small yellow onion

2 cloves garlic

pinch of salt

2 1/2 cups cooked brown lentils

3 tablespoons tomato paste

2 tablespoons hot sauce

For Serving:

6 corn tortillas

Romaine lettuce

Salsa

Sliced avocado

The first step was to prepare the spice mix, this was defienetely the easiest part becasue all I had to do was measure out my listed spices and toss them into a bowl

The next step was to prepare the lentils. At first the lentils were seeming a little dry, but when I looked back at the instructions I realized the it had said "keep a cup of water within reach; you'll need to add splashed as you cook" (Chandra pg. 110) After doing this a few times, my lentils were up to standards. Then I added my spice mix for flavor and used a fork to mash up my lentils because a spatula will pften not be strong enough to mash it. (Chandra pg. 110)

Then, I just added my ingredients to my tortillas. Here I made a slight alteration to the recipe as I used flour tortillas rather than corn based on personal preference. Although it didn't turn out quite as pretty as I'd hoped and you are unable to see all of the ingredients inside of the taco, it turned out quite delicious and I can't wait to make it again!

Have you ever tried any fake meat products or used something like lentils as a substitute for meat? What was it? Did you enjoy it?

Moskowitz, Isa Chandra. Isa Does It: Amazingly Easy, Wildy Delicious Vegan Recipes for Every Day of the Week. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.