This clever way to reinvent what we have come to call The Taco** is a little messy to eat – like all lettuce wraps in my experience but I’m forgiving because – well how can you be mad at any vehicle for salsa? I find the key to a successful lettuce wrap/inside out taco is not being greedy and trying to add too much to one wrap/taco. We live in an imperfect world my friends, where lettuce is not the best load bearing material. But it is delicious with taco stuff stuffed in it. So let’s make some!
INSIDE OUT TACOS
INGREDIENTS
- 1 CAN BLACK BEAN, DRAINED AND RINSED
- 1 CAN LENTILS, DRAINED AND RINSED
- 1 TABLESPOON OLIVE OIL
- 1 CLOVE GARLIC, MINCED
- 1 RED ONION, DICED
- 2 TABLESPOONS BRAGG’S LIQUID AMINO ACIDS
- 1 TEASPOON ONION POWDER
- 1 TEASPOON CUMIN
- 1/4 TEASPOON SMOKED PAPRIKA
- DASH OF LIQUID SMOKE
- DASH OF HOT SAUCE
- 1 CUP WHOLE TORTILLA CHIPS
- 1-2 HEADS OF LETTUCE WITH STURDY LEAVES, WE USED BIBB BUT THERE IS ALSO BOSTON AND OF COURSE ICEBERG
- TOPPINGS – DICED AVOCADO, SLICED JALAPEÑOS, SLICED BLACK OLIVES, SHREDDED VEGAN CHEESE, FRESH CILANTRO, YOUR FAVORITE SALSA AND/OR GUACAMOLE
- 4 LIMES, CUT INTO WEDGES
DIRECTIONS
- STEP 1 Heat your Olive Oil over a medium heat in your favorite and deepest cast iron skillet. Once your skillet is hot, toss in your Beans, Garlic, Onions, Braggs, Onion Powder, Cumin, Paprika, Liquid Smoke and Hot Sauce. Cook your Beans mix until your Onions are tender. Make sure to flip and mix your Beans mix a few times with a spatula to make sure it cooks evenly.
- STEP 2 While your Beans cook, cut and prepare your toppings and break off the whole Lettuce leaves at the base and set them aside.
- STEP 3 Then remove your Beans mix from heat once your Onions are tender and gently crush the Tortilla Chips just once over your skillet. You don’t want them to become dust just smaller bite-sized pieces. Mix your Chips in with your spatula.
- STEP 4 Serve your Beans mix warm with all the toppings and Lettuce leaves there so people can make their own combinations. To eat – hold a Lettuce leaf in your palm and fill with a little Beans mix and then sprinkle a pinch of whatever toppings you like over the top. Finish your taco off with a squeeze of Lime over the top.
By Annie Shannon, the lady behind MeetTheShannons.com. She, and her huband Dan are the authors of the cookbooks most vegans call their cooking bibles; Betty Goes Vegan: 500 Classic Recipes for the Modern Family
and Mastering The Art Of Vegan Cooking.