Last night, Ange and Karly came over for dinner and we enjoyed a Mexican themed dinner party! I was looking for a dinner that could be prepared ahead of time and was laid back & fuss-free…Mexican food fit the bill. This week has been insanely busy with bakery orders, so I needed something that would be delicious, but not take up too much time.
I made a DIY burrito station…
I know it looks like a lot of work, but it wasn’t that bad! I cooked the lentils and beans the night before and the speltberry salad was also already made.
The great thing about this dinner is that I prepared everything ahead of time except for the guacamole which I prepared just before serving. The rest was completely finished and wrapped up in the fridge by 9am yesterday! You can’t have a lower stress dinner than that. :)
Mmm, it’s making me hungry just thinking about it! Good thing there are leftovers for my lunch today. ;)
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Mexican Dinner Party Vegan Burritos
Serves 4-6 people
What You’ll Need: (I will link to the recipes I used)
- Pico De Gallo & Guacamole
- Back on Track II Spelt Berry Salad
- Homemade taco seasoning
- Lentil-Walnut Taco Meat (below)
- Spiced Black Beans (2 cups cooked black beans + 1-2 tsp taco seasoning)
- Daiya Cheese or other vegan cheese
- Salsa
- Shredded lettuce
- My favourite hummus
- Tortilla wraps (I used Food for Life GF) & corn chips
Preparation: I prepared everything the morning of and placed them in air-tight containers in the fridge. Just before serving, I made the Guacamole.
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Lentil-Walnut Taco Meat II
Adapted from my first version.
Yield: ~ 2.5-3 cups
Ingredients:
- 1 cup dry lentils
- 3 cups veggie broth or water
- 1 & 1/3 cup walnut halves, toasted
- 1 cup bean medley (chickpeas, kidney beans, etc)
- Homemade Taco seasoning, to taste
Directions: Cook the lentils in about 3 cups or so of vegetable broth or water until tender, about 30-40 minutes. Meanwhile, toast your walnuts on baking sheet in a preheated oven at 300F for 10 minutes. Drain lentils and place lentils, beans, and walnuts in food processor. Add homemade taco seasoning to processor, starting with a teaspoon at a time. Process for just a few seconds, until chunky. You don’t want to over-process it. Taste and add more taco seasoning, repeat until desired taste is achieved. Just before serving dinner, heat a skillet with 1 tbsp olive oil in it, and add lentil taco meat. Heat and serve.
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We had a grand ‘ol time and the burrito station was a big hit! The burrito fillings were also great to make a big salad with. I think I will be doing that for lunch today. :)
For dessert, I made vegan chocolate cupcakes with almond ‘buttercream’ and toasted coconut. They were awesome! I loved the toasted coconut on top…it really took the cupcake to a new level.
The girls each brought me some gorgeous flowers!!! I got spoiled. :) Aren’t they gorgeous?
I was told that I have to keep them alive until at least my birthday weekend May 14th. ;)
After Ange and Karly left, Eric and I watched American Idol that we taped (Go Haley!!) and I did some Vegetable Gardening reading while Eric did deck planning…
My mom gave me this book a couple years ago…how did she know that I would one day build my own vegetable garden? :) Moms are the best!
I am extremely amazed by all the gardening info that I am coming across! There is soooo much to learn and read up on. While it feels a bit overwhelming, I am extremely excited to start a garden. I could really see this becoming a huge hobby and passion of mine.
I loved this quote from Shannon the other day, “Gardening is a learning experience. Trial and error. Even the most experiences gardeners have failures and successes.” and like Karly said last night, it is better to try than to never try at all!
Many of you have also recommended the Square Foot Gardening book, so I might check that out this weekend.
Have a great Friday!
Mexican night is always a favorite in my house too! I made the fiance make me taco salad for dinner last night, and I love the leftovers. Yummmmmmmm. Hope you had a good lunch!
WOW this looks like a great way I could get my family to eat a vegan dinner with me for a night :D
My husband and I watched the square foot gardening on VHS. Yep, it’s that old. :-P It seems like a great idea! We’ll probably do that when we get a house.
Those flowers are so pretty!!! I’m going to try that lentil “taco meat” for dinner next week!! I see a ginormous burrito/taco creation in my future :) Thanks for the great idea!!
Le Swoooooon. I would DIE for some guac right now! I miss mexican flavor so so much, I can’t wait to try your lentil walnut taco “meat”!
Vegan mexican night is the best idea ever! I love burriotos and tacos and these look so good
mmmm I love that you include hummus in your tacos–soo necessary! :)
Mexican is my go-to for dinner parties – great to prep ahead and who DOESN’T love Mexican?!
That taco “meat looks fantastic. Def bookmarking. :)
Phwoar, what a generous spread! Mexican is almost impossible to find here in Australia, so I really should replicate this soon to sate my craving :P
The Mexican meal looks delicious! Definitely one of my favorite cuisines :)
My husband and I are in hawaii on our honeymoon right now and had the most phenomenal burrito at this mexican place here, I was NOT looking forward to having to leave this mexican burrito behind when we went home…now I don’t have to…this recipe looks phenomenal! Thanks Angela!
You HAVE to check out “Square Foot Gardening”!! The soil solution alone is worth it. My herb garden has never been more thriving or robust. All organic!
LOVE Mexican! I seriously think that I could eat it nightly…
Some of my favorite cupcakes to make are dark chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and toasted coconut. Coconut and dark chocolate were truly meant for each other!
I’ve GOT to try that almond buttercream! Just as soon as I finish up the giant tub of cream cheese frosting in my freezer!
This is an old post, but one of my households favorites! If it were up to my husband we’d have these tacos every other night, which isn’t a bad idea haha. The first time I made them though they seemed dry to us.. maybe I did something wrong? Now when I make them I sauté a red bell pepper and an onion together until tender, then add the “meat” mixture and finally I pour a little salsa over top and mix until heated. They are better than any tacos I’ve eaten before and so simple to make.
I made this recipe and loved it. Because you shared these amazing recipes…I eat better!! Thank you!!
FYI I can’t seem to get your homemade Taco Seasoning link to work! What is inlcuded in this? Making it for dinner tonight and don’t want to pick up the store bought stuff :)
Thanks xx
J
Hey Jay, It looks like Tastespotting has removed that recipe from their site…? Bummer! So sorry about that. I don’t think I ever copied it down. I did find this one which may be worth trying? http://www.behindthebites.com/2013/05/homemade-taco-seasoning.html
I loved this “taco” meat!!! It tasted better than I could have imagined! I didn’t have canned kidney beans (only dried with little time), so I subbed black beans and pintos… DELISH!!! Thanks for being such an inspiration!!!
Hey Susan, thank you so much for your kind words! I’m glad you love the recipe.
I love the look of the lentil-walnut taco meat, but can’t send it to school (no nuts allowed). Do you have any suggestions of what I can use instead to add flavor (smashed chick peas for a chunky consistency maybe…) or can I just omit it. Thanks!
Hey Dee, I often sub in toasted pepita seeds for a nut-free version. :) It’s SO good! If you happen to have the Oh She Glows Recipe App, there’s a nut-free taco crumble recipe in there that’s very similar to this one. I hope that helps!