Vegan Taco Night

Our good friends are amazing hosts.  

They are expert dinner party throwers and inspirational cooks.  Many of my recipes were created because of their health and diet changes.  We often head to their house on a Friday evening for food, fire, friends, and fun.  They hold so many get togethers, cookouts, special occasions, and holiday meals, I know their kitchen layout almost as well as I know mine (still working on the layout and food storage in their beautiful custom made built in pantry).  Work schedules, mini trips out of town, and beach vacations kept us from getting together, but a break in activities and prior commitments coincided last night.

So finally we got to host them!

Super excited!  What do you make when the meal needs to please everyone from ages 2 - 42 and be wheat, dairy, meat, sugar, and oil free?  Of course it was going to be Taco Night!!! Complete with my corn tostadas, almond cheese, and nut meat crumbles.  Our guests offered to bring fresh greens from their garden and a massive bowl of homemade guacamole (and a large bottle of white wine).

PERFECT!

So...  the only thing I had to "cook" was the tostadas, which makes this the perfect summer dinner. These can be done ahead of time (like the night before if your kitchen gets steamy during the day), or in the dehydrator if you wanted to make this dinner 100% raw.  You absolutely need nonstick parchment paper for these tostadas because there is NO OIL in them, but taste hearty and fantastic.

Tostadas:
1/4 cup chia seeds
1/4 cup ground flax seeds
1/2 cup blue corn flour (or any, we like the organic blue corn finely ground)
1/4 cup white corn flour (or masa harina, if you can find it)
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp dried cilantro
1 tsp file (or a Mexican spice blend)
Mix all together in a bowl.
Stir in 1 cup of water.
Let sit a few minutes until thickened.

Line baking sheets with nonstick parchment paper and scoop just under 1/4 cup of batter onto paper. Use a rubber spatula to spread them out thin, about 5-6 inch circles, 1/4-1/2 inch thick.  A single batch makes about a dozen tostadas.  You can double this batch easily.  Bake in preheated 350* F oven for 20-24 minutes.  As soon as you remove the pans, peel the flexible tostada off the paper and flip over, so they don't stick.  I lift the parchment paper up by one corner when I peel them so I don't burn my fingers on my stone baking pans.

The only other thing that needed prepping (other than just cutting up toppings or stirring the cheese) was the
Nut and Seed Taco Meat:
Less than 5 minutes prep time and super tasty, this is a win-win for any night of the week.
1 cup sunflower seeds,
1 cup mixed raw nuts (I used hazelnuts and pecans tonight, but have tried it with walnuts and almonds and even the leftover bits and pieces in the snack cabinet).
Pulse in food processor until crumbly.
Add:
2 Tbsp tamari, Braggs, or some liquid soy sauce mixture
1 Tbsp olive oil, optional (or whatever oil you can tolerate, grapeseed, sunflower, flax, hempseed, etc)

I gather the dry spices into a little bowl first so I don't forget anything instead of dumping it directly into the processor.

1 Tablespoon each of the following
cumin
coriander
cilantro
garlic powder
onion powder
chili powder
smoked paprika

1 teaspoon each
salt
pepper
cayenne

Add to nut mixture and pulse until combined well.  This blend is not too spicy for the kids, but can be adjusted to taste.  I made two batches, the other with a Tbsp of cayenne for a spicy kick.

For toppings, I set up bowls with the following:
My friend's delicious bowl of guacamole (avocados, garlic, onion, lime juice)
Fresh ripped greens from their garden
Mild taco meat and an extra spicy version (I put a plate under that bowl so the kids would know which one was which)
organic frozen corn, thawed with cool water and drained
organic black beans, drained and rinsed
sliced black olives
chopped tomatoes sprinkled with cilantro
almond pulp cheese (the leftover solid part from making almond milk, mixed with a tsp onion powder, a tsp garlic powder, and a tsp nutritional yeast.  Mix with a fork, store leftovers in fridge.)
sauteed onions (not really sauteed, just cooked in a cast iron pan with water until soft)
diced organic sweet onion
sliced lime wedges
variety of hot sauces

We had fun assembling to taste, I do recommend spreading the guacamole onto the tostada first so everything "sticks" to it.  The kids liked to fold them up like a taco, but the grownups managed to eat them flat so we could pile on those toppings!

Finish dinner with your favorite dessert (I made a vegan vanilla almond cake with strawberries on top) or try those vegan ice cream sandwiches I made last week.

The kids had both...

Can't wait to do this again!