Lentil & Walnut Taco Meat

Ingredients

• English walnuts

  ¾ cup, ground or 60g

• Onion

  canned

  1 cup, chopped or diced or 224g

• Garlic

  raw

  4 cloves, minced or 12g

• Cumin seed

  1 tbsp, ground or 9g

• Chili powder

  1 tbsp or 8g

• Oregano

  dried

  1 tsp, leaves or 1g

• Cayenne pepper

  ⅛ tsp or 0.2g

• Green tomatoes

  raw

  2 large or 364g

• Vegetable broth

  from bouillon, low-sodium

  2 cup or 480g

• Cilantro

  Melissa’s

  ¼ cup or 4g

• Salt

  table

  1 dash or 0.4g

• Black pepper

  ground

  1 dash or 0.1g

• Lime juice

  100g

• Lentils

  raw

  1 cup or 192g

Directions

1. In a small bowl, add in the walnuts along with enough lukewarm water to fully submerge the nuts. In a separate bowl, add in the lentils also with enough lukewarm water to cover them. Soak both the walnuts and lentils for about 30 minutes.
2. Once the walnuts have finished soaking, drain them and transfer them to a cutting board (or a food processor). We just let the lentils continue to sit in the water during this time. Roughly chop the walnuts until they have broken down into a "meat crumble"-like texture. You don't want them to be powder, you want them to still have some texture in the mixture.
3. In the medium-sized pan, add in 1 tablespoon of cooking oil along. Once warm, add in the onions and garlic, and cook for 3-4 minutes, or until the onions are translucent and the garlic is fragrant.
4. Add in the chopped walnuts, cumin, chili powder, oregano and cayenne, and cook for 1 minute more.
5. Drain the lentils and add them into the mixture along with the liquid smoke, tomatoes, and broth. Mix until everything is combined and then bring the mixture to a boil. Once boiling, lower the heat to a simmer and cover the pot. Allow the mixture to simmer covered for 20-25 minutes.
6. Remove the lid from the pan and continue sauteing until the liquid has cooked off and the lentils are soft.
7. Remove from heat and add in the cilantro. Mix until well combined and serve warm. Enjoy!
8. Recipe by: Jasmine @ Sweet Simple Vegan (source: https://sweetsimplevegan.com/lentil-walnut-taco-meat/)