Smoky Lentil-Walnut-Tempeh Tacos

I make a batch of this taco filling once per week. Yes, it’s that good! Some may say I’m in a rut because I’ve had the same breakfast tacos every day for the past 6 months, but I just think it’s a testament to how perfect they are. For awhile, I was calling it vegan chorizo, but then I remembered that I don't actually remember what chorizo tastes like, and did some research...and while it's Mexican Chorizo-esque in that it's spicy and smoky, it's really not fatty enough to be called chorizo, since that fattiness is pretty essential. I’m fine with that, as I can eat it every day (yes, I was serious) without feeling queasy. The older I get, the less I can enjoy greasy foods, sadly!

It's a little spicy, very savory, smells incredible while it's cooking, and has a fun texture from the bits of walnuts. Protein packed with lentils, walnuts, and tempeh, they keep me full all morning, so long as I pair it with a good helping of fatty avocado. Pictured here in it's purest form of taco filling, it's actually pretty versatile. You can use it on nachos, stir it into a tofu scramble, use it to stuff peppers (add a bit of cooked rice), include it in a 7-layer dip, as part of a kolache filling (add some vegan cheddar) - honestly anywhere you'd like a little smoke and spice, it's here for it. It also comes together in a flash, as long as you have the lentils already cooked or if you use canned. But also lentils take almost no time to cook, so if you have to prepare some, it still comes together pretty fast. I like to cook a pound of lentils all at once, then divide into jars and freeze for future use - that way you only have to defrost the lentils the night before.

Before you start: I intend for my recipes to be flexible. Feel free to use more walnuts, more garlic, more chipotles or less...I encourage you to experiment in your kitchen, and use what you have! No walnuts? Try pecans! No tempeh? Just use more lentils. Be creative, this is a very malleable recipe - you can do it!

Smoky Lentil-Walnut-Tempeh Tacos

Makes about 12 tacos

1/2 a medium yellow onion, roughly chopped (about 3/4 cup)

2 large garlic cloves

1/2 cup walnuts

4 oz tempeh (half a block), cubed

1 1/2 cups cooked brown or green lentils

3 chipotles in adobo, plus 2 Tbsp of sauce

1 1/2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp Mexican oregano (use Greek if you can't find Mexican)

3/4 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp salt

2 tsp apple cider vinegar

2 tsp oil (any neutral oil will do - think canola, sunflower, avocado, etc)

oil for the pan

For assembly:

Tortillas

Hot sauce

Avocado

Pickled red onions

Heat a large cast iron or other nonstick skillet over medium heat.

While the skillet heats up, add the walnuts, onion, tempeh, and garlic to a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add the rest of the ingredients, pulse until uniform - you still want some texture in there, so try not to make it into a paste. Don't have a food processor? No worries, just finely chop the onion, garlic, walnuts, tempeh, and chipotles, then combine everything in a bowl. Whole lentil are fine, it'll just be a little more chunky, or you can smush the mixture with a potato masher.

Once the skillet is hot, spray it with a little oil - just a mist. Add the lentil mixture to the pan, spreading it out with a spatula. Cook and stir until uniformly brown and crumbly, and most of the moisture has cooked out, 15 - 20 minutes. (I use a spatula to stir, doing kind of a chop/flip/stir combo to brown big parts of it at a time.)

That's it! Enjoy immediately in tortillas with all the fixings, or however you’d like. This reheats very well, and keeps in the fridge for 5 days or so.