Spicy Lentil Tacos Super Fast (Side of Slaw on The Side)

I was pressed for time (as usual) last night--I needed a quick vegan fix for dinner. When is a taco not a good dinner go-to? I say never. My fave is always the hardshell variety--and my shells ALWAYS break on me!--takes nothing away from the flavor, trust me. On its surface, this vegan dinner is quite simple. On a taste scale, this is a complete collision of amazing Mexican flavor. Cost wise, well, it is a laughable maybe buck fifty per person. There are ton of lentil taco recipes on the web, however, my inspiration for this meal came from a wonderful new cookbook find: Supermarket Vegan by Donna Klein. (I love this cookbook--I have yet to see a recipe that didn't get the "try worthy" nod--so expect more from me from this book.) I guess my "taco love" can be traced back to my Taco Tuesday madness when I slung hash at a local taco joint down south when I was in college. Ah, memories of grime. The scent of cumin wafting through my closet. Those were the days.

Mr. Thyme has been "on the road" quite a bit recently, and for some reason, when he's gone, I seem to find myself in the middle of projects that take all day long to complete. Like planting four trees yesterday. (A post to follow on this maybe tomorrow--after my back heals some.)

So by four in the afternoon, I was sitting here trying to catch a breather when I hear the garage door slam. That's always a HUGE motivator for me--and miraculously, this recipe opened up and I was like, "Welcome home! Guess what we're having tonight?" (I always win points when its vegan pizza after a long trip--I won even more points last night with this recipe--he loved it!)

Warm Spinach Salad Tacos And Homemade Flour Tortillas (My Eat to Live Quandary)

I had a hankering for a warm spinach salad. I was lucky enough to stumble upon a Rick Bayless espisode on PBS Create (I LOVE this channel!) and watched him take a very simple approach to this yummy favorite and add chorizo in place of bacon (he is just brilliant, is he not?). Well, I just so happened to have some "past-the-expiration-date" vegan chorizo links in the fridge begging to be used. (Personally, why expiration dates on vegan foods--really, why?) Anywho--this really rocked and you should run home and make it tonight! But I insist you make your own tortillas or else bad food karma may occur!

Why had I never made homemade flour tortillas before?

There is no excuse to not make your own tortillas, NO excuse! They are simple and add a "grubby" elegance and flavor that made my kitchen feel like a little cantina!

So simple, again--a recipe from Rick Bayless. Watching him make his own flour tortillas is enough to make any man or woman yearn for some of this Mexican yum!

Mmmmm.

I don't spend an inordinate amount of time in front of the TV. In fact, I can barely sit still enough to make it through a movie. But being in the kitchen around five in the evening wondering what to make, I usually will turn on PBS Create (because that is when the old school cooking shows are on) vs. Food Network and an episode of Paula Deen y'all. (And I have checked out the new Cooking Channel and so far, love that I can watch re-runs of shows I missed when we did not have Food Channel--like Nigella Express!)  

Nine times out of ten, while watching these shows, I will be met with an amazing idea for a vegan substitution. Enter this salad! I am not trying to be a cop out with this recipe here--but it is so utterly simple and Rick has broken it down so well, I am like--just go to his website: Rickbayless.com and search for his "warm spinach salad" and take off with it giving it your own spin. While you are there, be sure to pull down the recipe for "flour tortillas"--they made the meal, honestly!

Black Garlic And Roasted Red Pepper Hummus (Eat to Live Lunch Perfection)

My hummus cravings are strong. I have no problems with the garbanzo bean at all. It dresses up nicely, plays well with others and holds its own. This plate represents a nearly perfect Eat to Live lunch. And it was prepared in, what else, my new Vitamix blender (I heart the Vitamixer)! It shares the plate with a lot of cabbage--then a side of fruit. Always with the fruit in the ETL plan. I served my hummus and cabbage in a whole wheat wrap and layered in fresh spinach, two thin slices of avacado and a few thinly sliced carrots. The flavor comes from the hummus all the way.

I added two cloves of black garlic and two cloves of regular garlic. (Black garlic has an amazing flavor--if you can get your hands on some, do so immediately!) Two things Dr. Fuhrman also supports besides the greens--onions and garlic. Good thing, because I don't think my dedictation to this plan would work otherwise.

I wanted to share my "lunch" with you all. This is not a rocket science lunch here. I will say, I am easy to please when it comes to lunch. I am usually pretty hungry by around one--which is when I typically eat my lunch. Sometimes later--before three for sure. With ETL--you are consuming the salad first--rememeber? Well, in the case of my lunch today, I made sure my salad was incorporated within my wrap. Maybe Dr. Fuhrman would not agree with this idea, but I had a hard time wanting to eat a salad before my hummus wrap.  

Peas in The Pod (Day One on The Eat to Live Formula Plus Summer Reading List: Laura Bush)

The pea is one of the most fascinating of all vegetables I grow. One of the tastiest, too. Not many pods even make it into the house--I just snip and eat right out in the yard. Thus, no photo of some yummy pea pod dish this morning. (Maybe later.) I cannot fathom the energy it takes to go from a tiny pea to this goliath vine forever climbing and strethching toward the sun--until the last pod is formed and then suddenly the plant says: enough and vines turn yellow and wither. I love the peas!

You cannot miss this towering square foot of peas. Your eye is drawn in by them towering over everything else. I planted the peas this year next to spinach (behind it) and in front of it--corn and cabbage and brussel sprouts. As the pea vines began to climb, I would train them to not creep over to the side and onto other "ground" items within their growing space. The pea vines are very fragile, so handle with a light touch!

My summer reading list. So far. I am a big reader. I am also a big fan of Laura Bush. (My political leanings may be fodder for another post--not today's).

My new pursuit and interests are taking me down the Eat to Live path as well as dabbling in raw foods while I am at it. I also love a bit of fiction from my library. My summer reading list cup runneth over.

The bellflower--native to Missouri. This grows on a lovely ground cover vine, and then suddenly you have these stems growing up from it--nice and straight--and finally these beautiful flowers form--they are so fun!

While I'm at it, I thought it might be fun to plant blueberries, blackberries and some grapes this spring. We've also just purchased two apple trees, a peach tree and an apricot tree--more on those later.

I finally finished the borders on my quilt! I love it! Now I need to put the backing on. Since this is my first quilt, I am going to need input on the matter of stitching and "finishing" my project. I know it's not rocket science, but I would feel much better with some assistance, so off to my sewing store I go tomorrow! Plus I've enrolled in a beginner sewing class in which we are going to make this super retro, super cute apron. I figure a fresh immersion in "sewing" basics couldn't hurt. (Plus I just had to have this apron--it screamed my name!)

*This is kind of a long post, but we're starting down a new path, it's a new month, etc. Feel free to skip this one. But you might find something interesting. . .maybe.

Where's the vegan food you ask? It'll be back real soon y'all. Lately, I have had my hands FULL with all things "yard". Our outside to-do list never seems to end this time of year. My mowing alone takes me about three hours every four days. Plus I require a full day to recover from the whole sweaty mess--especially in this monster heat we've had. (A wonderful workout in its own right. The other day, I used my pedometer to see how far I walked when I mowed: three miles--of HARD walking!) Plus the heat we're experiencing brings really humid, miserable days with it. It's not for the faint of heart. I like to call this "swamp" living. I keep telling Mr. Thyme I want to retire ABH: anywhere but here--further north--this heat kills me. But then he argues back, "You'll regret it when it's March and there's three feet of snow on the ground and the first day for gardening doesn't happen until May." My reply, "More knitting time for me."