lentil tacos, a memory

 

 

As an undergraduate living in a house with three other friends, we often cooked and ate meals together. Often, that meant I cooked and shared a lot. Many of the recipes were a little too inventive, had mishaps, or were otherwise freely critiqued with a good dose of humor all around.

 

 

One such meal happened to be lentil tacos. I long-ago picked up the recipe from Runner’s World, back when they had a fairly elaborate recipe database on their site. The tacos were good but they were also what I deemed gringo-hippy tacos with their reliance on all the common gringo taco accompaniments, shredded cheese, lettuce, flour tortillas, etc. And the filling. It had not only lentils but also raisins, and they both finished simmering in salsa. Not exactly authentic or normal. Exactly the type of thing I would make. And still do.

The particular day I made these at that house, my roommate had a friend over who stayed for dinner. She was/is a good friend from childhood, a friend I had grown up eating countless authentic tacos with in our hometown. He was not only from Mexico, but also knew food. I was so embarrassed. I would never intentionally serve my hippy tacos to someone who knows tacos. (I had by then switched over to corn tortillas and dropped the gringo accompaniments). But still.

We all dived in and the lentil filling was met with overwhelming approval. And then I mostly forgot about the recipe, only making it a handful of times in the years since.

 

 

In my hometown again over Christmas, my friend brought up that memory and asked for the recipe. Really? That’s just an old Runner’s World recipe. But when I looked, it was gone from the site. Good thing I had printed and held on to it, as I did then for all the really good recipes. So here it is, slightly adapted from the original, still in all its inauthentic-ness.

We served them this time over locally made corn tortillas and topped off with shredded carrots, diced red cabbage, and kohlrabi matchsticks, because they’re in season and were already on hand. That tends to be how we eat tacos.

 

 

Lentil Tacos, serves 4-6
The Recipe Redux theme this month is Taco Tuesday and we were challenged to share our healthy, creative take on tacos. What is yours? I’d love to know how you enjoy them!

Lentils:
1 Tbs. coconut or other high heat oil
1/2 large onion, diced
1 stalk celery, small diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1-3 tsp. chili powder, start with less and build the heat level as desired
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 cup green or brown lentils
2 Tbs. raisins
2-3 cups vegetable broth or water
1 cup salsa, your choice of heat (or plain canned tomatoes and more spices)
salt and pepper, as needed

Suggested Toppings:
shredded cabbage or greens
shredded carrots
kohlrabi, matchsticks or shredded
corn tortillas, warmed
additional salsa or other

• In a large skillet, warm the oil over medium-high. Add the onion and celery and cook for five minutes until beginning to be soft. Add the garlic, stir and cook for about a minute longer.
• Then add the spices, lentils, and raisins. Give them all a good stir to incorporate the spices well and then add 2 cups of the broth or water. Bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer, cover, and cook for 30 minutes or until tender. Stir once or twice throughout and add more liquid if needed.
• Stir in the salsa and cook for 5-10 minutes more. Then taste and add salt, pepper and additional spices to taste.
• Meanwhile, prep the other ingredients, and spoon the filling and toppings atop warmed tortillas.