Quick Taco Nourish Bowls

This month I am sharing three nourish bowl recipes with you. They are basically a bowl with a grain, vegetables, protein, sauce, and a sauce. A bowl like this is my favorite kind of meal–filling, delicious, nutritious, easy, versatile, and makes for great leftovers.

Meatless Crumbles

I am excited to share with you a new plant-based product that adds convenience and nutrition in a delicious way. A friend sent me these meatless crumbles to try, and they have been so handy and yummy! My kids even love them.

I am usually wary of processed foods, so of course I wanted to know what the ingredients are. There are only three ingredients: pea and rice protein fermented by mushrooms, pea protein, and pea fiber. The texture is so good, they are shelf-stable, and they take less than 10 minutes to prepare. They also have 17 grams of protein per serving–and of course it’s plant protein which is the best kind.

I have a discount code for you if you’d like the try them! Type Plateful20 at checkout for 20% off when you order on the Goodside Foods website. I get no commission for this–just want to pass on some savings for a fun new food to try. You can also order the crumbles on Amazon (although the discount code only works on their website).

Or use lentils!

Of course, if you don’t want to buy something new you can use lentils for these bowls instead. Simply put 1 cup brown lentils in 3 cups vegetable broth in a large pot, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 17-20 minutes. Drain excess liquid and add 2 TBSP taco seasoning and salt to taste. Also delicious! Another option is to make my Lentil Walnut Taco Meat. Make a double batch and freeze some because it freezes beautifully for a quick meal in the future.

Make rice and a sauce, and you’re almost done!

It may take a while to prepare these bowls if you need to cook rice and prepare a sauce. However, if you have leftover cooked rice and some salsa, guac or hot sauce in the fridge, these are so quick! Keep the components on hand and have them for lunch or dinner. If you’d like a fancier sauce than just salsa, try a vegan ranch dressing or my avocado cilantro sauce. A spoonful of dairy-free plain yogurt is also super yummy, like sour cream.

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Quick Taco Bowls

Prep Time

20 mins

 

Use textured pea protein crumbles for quick taco meat that is a change from typical beans or lentils.

Course: Main Course

Keyword: low-carb vegan, rice bowl, taco bowl, vegan

Servings: 4 bowls

Author: Faithful Plateful

Ingredients

"Meat"

• 2 cups meatless pea protein crumbles (see post for details--or simply use lentils cooked in vegetable broth and add taco seasoning)
• 1 cup water
• 2 TBSP soy sauce (or alternative like aminos or tamari)
• 1/2 tsp liquid smoke (if you have it)
• 4 TBSP taco seasoning (see post for recipe)
• 1 TBSP nutritional yeast (optional)

Bowls

• 1 large tomato or fresh salsa
• 1 avocado, or guacamole
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1 orange sweet potato (optional)
• 2 cups cooked rice
• 1 head romaine lettuce, chopped fine
• 1 handful fresh cilantro, chopped
• hot sauce, salsa, ranch dressing, guacamole, or other sauce

Instructions

1. Bake sweet potato, if you'd like to use one, by piercing it with a fork a few times and baking in the microwave for about 7 minutes (5 minutes for a small one).

2. Make taco "meat" by soaking the crumbles in the 1 cup of water with the soy sauce and liquid smoke. Let sit for 5 minutes.

3. Pour crumbles into a large skillet and mix the remaining seasonings in. Cook over medium heat until water has cooked off. Set aside.

4. Assemble bowls by layering chopped lettuce, rice, tomato, avocado, chopped baked sweet potato, corn, cilantro and sauce of choice with the crumbles.