20 Minute Vegan Chorizo Tacos
For health reasons, I’ve been changing my diet and adding more and more vegan and vegetarian dishes to my routine. What makes this a particularly interesting challenge is that I have a number of food allergies. So when I find something that I not only like but that I CAN eat? I eat a lot of it and find new ways to use it! I will stress right now that I am not being paid for this piece by anyone. This is just me sharing something yummy with all of you. I use and eat a lot of Morningstar Farms products. Their line of vegan and vegetarian frozen goodies has made my life a lot easier. When I discovered their chorizo crumbles? Well, that was life changing! I’ll be frank and say I never once looked at their cooking instructions. Honestly, didn’t even think to! I just thought you use them like you would anything else. So I began cooking them in a little olive oil and then add stuff that suited my mood. (Isn’t that how all great recipes are born? Through experimentation?) Something else new for me is quinoa. A friend suggested I try it and I admit I had been wanting to. But again allergies had me leery and I’m one of those people for whom texture is an issue as well. (Yes, I have issues. lol) In our last grocery order I decided to throw a small bag of organic quinoa in the mix and give it a try and let me just ask, where has this been all my life?! So ok, you know the backstory and now you are all, enough lady. Let’s get to these tacos! Well, I agree, let’s get to it... This dish only calls for 6 items and even though this was my first time cooking the quinoa and the dish itself, I still timed it perfectly so it was all ready at the same time. This is a fast and very filling recipe...a little goes a long way and yet it’s packed with protein and fiber and will keep you nice and full (and wanting more all at the same time). Ingredients: Please note, except for the quinoa, I didn’t really measure anything, just went with my gut, but I will try to estimate as much as I can. I also made this just for myself for the first try and did enough for three tacos. Morningstar Farms Chorizo Cumbles Plain (not flavored or spiced) quinoa. Organic is up to you. Tomatoes - I used grape tomatoes for the sweetness Olive oil Water Taco shells
The longest time for this dish is the cooking of the quinoa. I made the two-to-one ratio: 2 cups of water for 1 cup of dried quinoa. It yielded quite a bit and between this dish and leftovers, has given me two batches of these tacos, a breakfast, a stir fry dish (recipe to come) and there is still more! Because it’s so filling, you don’t need a lot of it and therefore you can get so many uses from breakfasts to lunches, dinners and beyond. Plus, once it’s made, if you’d like to make these tacos again? It’s only about a 7 minute cooking time! Bonus tip: if you buy a a taco dinner kit that contains the shells, sauce and seasoning in it, you can use the shells and sauce for this recipe and then the seasoning packet can be used on several batches of popcorn! Hope you give this a try and of course you can tweak it to your own tastes...as always I say, these are but jumping off points for your inspiration. :) I hope you enjoy these as much as I do! Cheers!!!
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The colder Fall days are here and that to me, means comfort food. Fall comfort food? Apples and cinnamon of course!
I have a quick and easy recipe for you that I started doing for dinners but would make an excellent Sunday brunch or really anytime dish as well. And here is the kicker...even though it is apples and sausage? No meat! I started making a lot of meals without meat this year and have been playing around with different ways to use fruits, veggies and meat alternatives. One thing I should also mention here is that I also deal with a lot of food allergies so finding these alternatives has been an interesting quest, one source for me has been some of the Morningstar Farms line of vegetarian and vegan products. (I have not been paid for this endorsement, I just find them yummy and wanted to share.) Their breakfast “sausage” is what we’ll be using here for my version, but please feel free to tweak this using any meat or alternative you’d like. So for this this recipe I am using the “original” breakfast sausage and not the maple flavored one. It’s a personal preference but also since we are using syrup in this, I found using the maple flavored sausage to be a bit too overpowering. If you’d like to get any or see what the package looks like, please feel free to click on my Amazon link for this product: https://amzn.to/2QzLXD7 As for the butter used in this dish...I personally don’t like to use butter in many things, however, you really need something to give it a little body and to help keep this from sticking, so use whatever you’d like here. I will say oil makes this too heavy so again, just the lightest touch of butter is the way I go. If you are using a meat based sausage or bacon, etc, you can take the butter out and just use the naturals dust of the meat to give your dish some oomph. A lot of vegetarian based items can be on the dry side, so that’s another reason to use just a little something here. As with any of my recipes I put on here, I’m going to let you know what I do and you can take it from there. Let’s get to this, shall we?! Ingredients: Butter (regular or plant butter) 1 Apple (I use green) 1 or 2 Breakfast sausage patties (again I use Morningstar Farms Original Breakfast “Sausage”) Cinnamon Pancake syrup What to do: Since I use the frozen “sausage”, I put two patties on a paper plate and microwave them for half the time they are supposed to be done. I don’t want them fully cooked through, just warmed enough so I can shred or crumble them. I find with two, 45 seconds does the trick! While they are doing their thing, take just a little butter and throw some in a pan to heat up slowly on a low flame to help melt the butter. While the pan and butter are heating up, take your green apple and do a rough dice on it. Can be the whole thing or half, up to you and how hungry you are. I keep the skin on but again, that’s me. Just make sure no seeds get in your dish. Make sure to keep an eye on the butter in the pan so it doesn’t burn. Turn the heat up and then take your chopped up apple and throw it in the pan. Toss it around a little to try and get it all coated with the butter. Should have a light coating. Give it about a 30 seconds to a minute to get it heated up and then sprinkle on the cinnamon. Again, toss the apples around a bit to coat them with the cinnamon. Let them cook whilst you take the sausage patties and cut them up, shred them or crumble them into small pieces. Give the apples another stir and toss in the sausage, Stir it all around so the sausage gets some of the butter and cinnamon and juices from the apple. What I like to do here is cover the pan up for about a minute and let everything start to meld together while the apples get nice and soft. After a minute, take the cover off and stir. Keep it on the heat and keep stirring until the sausage and apples get to the consistency you’d like. Personally I like the apples soft and the sausage a little crisp or well done. (It helps to absorb the syrup a bit more) When you got it the way you like it, add your syrup. A little goes a long way, but if you are planning to put this over something like a waffle or pancakes? Add a touch extra. Stir everything around to coat and let it cook so that the syrup boils. Keep stirring so nothing burns and let it cook until the syrup thickens up and a lot of its water content has boiled off. Its ready when everything is nice and thick but can still be spooned into a bowl or over your favorite waffles or pancakes! Despite all the steps, it’s prety much done in 15-20 minutes. You can make a little or a lot and vary it up with bacon, ham or whatever you’d like. I do it as a dinner myself. Because of the sweetness of the syrup and apples, I end up not craving a dessert or sweet snack later and it takes care of the temptation. This dish is extremely flavorful and filling. If you do want to use this with waffles or something, you are not going to use a lot to top them with. But it does heat up very well and can be kept in the fridge in an airtight container and just grab a little here and there if you’d like. I have a tendency to eat it all after I’ve made it. It really is that good. :)
Image by Mira Cosic from Pixabay
Summer is finally here and therefore it's time for some refreshing lemon goodness! So here's a quick 5 count of super simple ways to use this yummy and puckering inducing citrus fruit...let's go:
1. Lemonade Ice Cubes: While the pouring of glass upon glass of lemonade will surely happen this season, why not throw some lemonade into an ice cube tray too! This way, you can use the cubes to keep it cold without diluting it. (Also great for Arnold Palmers too. Throw them into a glass of ice tea for a great lemony kick!)
There's also sub ideas for this as well...add a piece of strawberry on a toothpick to create a small, quick and yummy popsicle snack or to add to your lemonade as well! Ice cube trays come in all sorts of funky shapes now, (including dinosaurs), why not use the lemonade ice cubes for Summer punch ideas at your next bbq!
Image by John Harper from Pixabay
2. Lemon Water: It's Summer, it's hot and hydration is a very necessary thing. So just a little lemon in your water can make a HUGE difference. Not everyone likes plain water! So jazz it up with a splash of lemon juice and you'll find yourself drinking a lot more. There's supposed to be a whole lot of health benefits to drinking lemon water as well, but personally, I just think it's tasty! I also find that if I drink a nice big glass of it, it stops any cravings I have for something sweet. So hey, bonus!
Added tip: if you are out and about or just don't have any fresh lemons on hand, try a packet of TrueLemon! This stuff is awesome and I used to even keep some in my desk. One packet = One wedge and is great in water, tea and I even cook with it! (I don't get any payment from the company for this endorsement, I just really like it a lot. But you can buy it below.) The packets are small and portable and great when you don't keep fresh lemons in the house on a regular basis. Also, they work with Feeding America and every time you purchase a product and go to their site to enter a code, they donate a meal to those in need. As of this post, they are up to giving away almost 6 million meals!
Image by Gabor Mika from Pixabay
3. Lemon and Veggies: Nothing says Summer like a little splash of lemon on some veggies! My two personal favorites are to use lemon when I cook with asparagus and to squeeze on a salad. I don't use salad dressings so for me, a simple salad of lettuce, tomatoes, sliced peppers and cucumbers with a dash of black pepper and squeeze of lemon is really all I need. And when it's hot out? This salad is quick, cool and keeps you hydrated too!
PS. I know it's not a vegetable, but here's a bonus tip: when making chicken cutlets with italian breadcrumbs, squeeze a wedge of lemon on it just before eating. Oh...so...good.
4. Spirited Lemon: Want to step it up the poolside game a little? Take a glass, some ice, then some 7-up or Sprite, a little vodka and some lemon and basil and you've got a refreshing drink with a little bit of a kick to it! (Don't want the alcohol? Use some seltzer to cut the sweet of the soda and you still have something special.) For added flavor, squish the basil and lemon a bit to release the oils and juices. Make it by the glass or by the pitcher and then pour away!
Image by codecamp790 from Pixabay
5. Dessert: Saved the best for last! Now there are a million types of great lemon desserts out there, but I said at the beginning of this piece that we were going for super simple. So why not take some lemon pudding (which is just so easy to whip up from a box!), spoon it into a little glass, let it set. Then when it's time to serve, just top with some whipped cream and top it with some sprinkles or maybe a slice of strawberry? Let your imagination go! This is not only great as a dessert but also as an after pool day snack or to bring to a pot luck bbq. Fast, easy and looks pretty too!!
That's it! Simple? Yes. But maybe it will inspire you to create your own lemon goodie or two. Let's embrace the season of the lemon!
Do you have a simple lemon recipe or yummy drink you'd like to share? Let us know! :) I have a confession to make...I’m addicted to asparagus. I know, asparagus gets a bad rep. But when you are someone with a number of food allergies, you can be quite limited in what fruits and veggies you can consume. When you find one that not only can you eat but that you LOVE? Well, you are going to use it in EVERYTHING! Welcome to the world of Asparahash!! Loosely put, the term “hash” in regards to food is basically food that is finely chopped during preparation. While most folks immediately think of corned beef hash, I’d like to change that thought process. (although I do love me some corned beef hash!) I don’t know exactly how it started, but earlier this year, asparagus began popping up a lot earlier than it usually does. It seems it not just for Springtime anymore (yippee!). So as soon as those beautiful spears of green goodness began popping up in stores, I pounced. Started getting a bunch or two a week. Not bad for being the only person in the house who eats it! The only way I used to eat it was the traditional, tossed in garlic and olive oil and either pan cooked or grilled. Absolutely NOTHING wrong with this. After all, it’s a classic dish for a reason; Simple and perfect and all it needs after that is a dash of sea salt. However, I like to play around and create new dishes using leftovers and minimal ingredients and thus the legend of Asparahash was born. It’s pretty simple really: grab a handful of asparagus, chop it up and decide what you want to go with it. I’ve done several variations of this with both just veggies or meat added in and it has become my go-to meal now about 3-4 times a week. It all starts with the asparagus. Take a handful, make sure the hard bottoms are taken off (don’t worry, the individual stalks will tell you where to break them off) and chop them up. What you add to it after that is up to you and it’s a fun to mix and match. I’ve thrown in some chopped up cherry tomatoes, cooked them down with the asparagus in just 2 tablespoons of olive oil, added some onion powder, salt and pepper and served it over rice or pasta. It’s great by itself or add in a little chopped up leftover chicken and you’ve got something quite yummy and really filling. Top with some toasted italian bread crumbs for an added texture and a little added spice. Another variation is with apples. Dice up a green apple and cook that down with the asparagus, this time using canola oil (still only about 2 tablespoons), and then again the onion powder and a little salt and pepper. I know that may sound strange, but the onion powder is pretty much the thing that ties it all together and brings out the flavors of the hash in both sweet and savory versions.. A great add in to the apple version is leftover ham. After Easter this year, we had tons of it. So I diced some up and added it to my asparahash apple concoction and it was fantastic! Another variation with the ham and apples is to add a little teriyaki sauce, cook it down a bit to thicken it up and then add the cooked rice and toss it all together in the pan until the rice is coated and all the ingredients are mixed together. (you can also substitute pineapple for the green apples--I’m allergic, so I improvised) Basically, it all depends on your imagination and there are no precise measurements. Grab handfuls of stuff, chop them up and throw them in a pan. That’s it. Asparagus is an incredibly versatile veggie. It’s pretty neutral and picks up the flavors of whatever you are cooking with it. It’s pretty cool that way and that’s why you can really play with it. I personally don’t do cream or cheese sauces but that doesn’t mean you can’t! Even though I have my favorites, every time I make them, they are a little different. Maybe this time I’ll add a different spice or throw it over a baked potato instead of a bed of white rice. I’ve done the tomato version where I’ve cooked them down so much, it’s almost a spread. So I’ll have it on a nice crusty bread like a bruschetta. Lots of possibilities and it only depends on what you’re feeling that day. It can be a side dish or main course. Totally up to you. (I did just asparagus and apples as a side dish for Easter and then liked it so much, I started having just that over rice.) One more thing, you’ll notice that I barely used any oil to cook this...that’s part of the bonus of this dish. Unless you are using meat, there really is very little fat to any of these versions and the fat that is used, is good stuff. I’m not a nutritionist by any means but I do know that canola and olive oils are great to cook with and a little goes a long way. Now it’s your turn. Get creative and discover the possibilities of Asparahash! |
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