Sometimes special occasions just turn out to be a hot mess. This was the case with our Valentine’s Day a couple weeks ago. Humour me while I share our story.
On the 14th, I woke up with a rash on my face and my eyes nearly swollen shut (as I mentioned, I’ve been struggling with allergies). They weren’t exactly the bedroom eyes I was hoping for! Eric had to cancel our dinner reservation because of the itchy, miserable state I was in. I don’t really put much emphasis on Valentine’s Day to begin with, but I was really looking forward to a nice evening out with my husband. Either way, we still managed to have a nice time together cuddled up on the couch giggling at Dwight’s antics on The Office while eating bowls of cereal. We made the best of the night and circumstances.
Just as we were about to get into bed at the end of the night, my shoulder was hit by a water bomb coming from above. I looked up to see a huge leak coming from the ceiling. Oh yes, the night gets better. All (rainy) day long this leak had been dropping water on our bed. I ripped up the layers of the sheets to find the bed absolutely soaked right through every layer. It’s midnight now and we’re pushing the bed as far over across the room as we can. Eric’s searching for a bucket somewhere buried in the garage. I’m stripping (the bed), cursing as I try to fit queen-sized sheets on a king-sized bed, and wondering what the heck we’re going to use for a duvet.
Drip, drip, drip.
In the grand scheme of things it was certainly not catastrophic, but it was definitely a hot mess of a day. If you also had one of those days on Valentine’s Day, rest assured you are not alone!
I promised Eric a homemade dinner of his choice when I was feeling better and he promised me dinner out. He chose fajitas for his special dinner – a childhood favourite for us both.
Growing up, whenever my mom told me it was fajita night (or taco night), I would be filled with glee. That yellow Old El Paso box was a magical box and I’d sneak it into the grocery cart whenever I could. My parents were never more cool than on fajita night. Well, except on pizza night.
Of course I’m still a huge fan of fajitas, but I make them a bit differently these days. It always amazes me the tasty dishes I can create with a bunch of plants.
The lentil walnut meat is adapted from my previous versions and I play around with the seasonings every time I make it. I encourage you to do the same. This time I seasoned it with cumin powder, chili powder, cayenne, vegan Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, and a bit of tomato paste. Feel free to use whichever spices or seasonings call out to you. An all-natural taco seasoning pack would also work in a pinch. If you aren’t down with walnuts, feel free to leave them out and simply use lentils for the base. Both will work just fine.
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Vegan Fajitas with Lentil Walnut Meat
Yield
4-6 servings
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Ingredients
For the lentil walnut meat
- 1 cup uncooked green lentils (makes about 2 cups cooked)
- 3 cups water or broth
- 1/2 cup walnuts, toasted if preferred (optional)
- 1.5 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp chili powder, or more to taste
- 1 tsp vegan Worcestershire sauce (I use Wizard’s brand)
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp tomato paste
- 1/8th tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/2 tsp fine grain sea salt, or to taste
For the stir-fry
- 1 tbsp coconut oil (or other oil)
- 1 small red pepper, thinly sliced
- 1 small orange pepper, thinly sliced
- 1 small red onion, thinly sliced
For the tortilla/topping
- 4-6 small soft tortillas (or try lettuce cups)
- Avocado slices
- Cashew or Macadamia Cream
- Fresh lime juice
- Salsa
- Cilantro
- Shredded lettuce
- Hot sauce
Directions
- Rinse lentils and add to a medium pot along with 3 cups of water or broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer uncovered for 30-45 minutes or until most of the water is absorbed and the lentils are tender.
- Meanwhile, sauté the onion and peppers in a skillet with the coconut oil for about 15 minutes over medium heat, or until softened.
- Add walnuts into a mini processor and process until the size of peas or a bit smaller. Set aside. Add half of the cooked lentil mixture into a mini food processor. Process until mostly smooth. Mix back into the remaining lentils in the pot. Stir in walnuts if using. Slowly add the spices and seasonings to taste, adjusting amounts if necessary. If lentil mixture is dry add some water, a tablespoon at a time, until moistened. Turn on heat to warm lentil mixture just before serving.
- Spoon lentil meat onto soft tortillas, followed by the skillet mixture and your desired toppings. Enjoy!
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)
I can’t believe that!!! The rash is bad enough, but a ceiling problem too? And in the winter!
Love this meat idea. Your lentil-walnut loaf is fantastic, so I will definitely be checking this out too! :)
Is it weird that I’m in awe of your avocado slices? They’re perfect! Finding an avocado here in Newfoundland that doesn’t have some amount of bruising/brown spots is really hard. The only solution is Costco but as a girl living alone, I just can’t eat 6 avocados before they go bad.
My Valentine’s Day wasn’t stellar either. I was supposed to be on a plane that day to Seoul, South Korea to visit the guy I’m dating (he’s an ex-pat English teacher there) but he came down with bronchitis and cracked a rib during a violent coughing fit a week before my departure so I’ve had to move the whole thing back a month. *sigh* :(
I know, and getting them at the optimum ripeness – not too hard, not too soft :-)
Oh, story of my life trying to find the perfect avocado. :) I tend to use them on the firmer side for pictures, they tend to have less bruises that way.
There’s this one grocery here that always has perfectly ripe avocados – you can tell that I love it! ;)
^ The avocados in the photos for this post look scrumptious!
It’s past midnight and too late to fly to the grocery store for some haha
[It’s probably good I check this blog more often at night than in the day, I’d just run out and buy everything that looks good to try and make it, would be disastrous:p]
I’ve never tried this myself, but there’s a pin floating around pinterest that claims that you can freeze ripe, peeled half avocados for later use. Maybe give it a try with the Costco avocados? :)
Lol! I just tried that a couple weeks ago, and they are great in my smoothies and puddings….it DOES work. :)
You know you can actually freeze ripe avocados! I used to let them go to waste all the time too if I didn’t go through the whole Costco Bag. But just let them ripen, and then you can peel them and put them in freezer or air tight bags and use them later for guacamole or any other recipe where you mash or blend them. Save the avocados :)
what a valentine’s day! these fajitas definitely look like a fantastic after-holiday dinner celebration. plus, i love eating with my hands ;)
Ange you are so versatile with lentils I can’t wait to try this… I hope you find the culprit to you allergies in can be a daunting process.. Gosh that is one horror valentines day story I don’t think I have one just yet… I hope your mattress did not take that long to dry out, I know when my mattress got soaked from a leak it to nearly a week to finish drying…
Luckily, we had a waterproof mattress cover on our mattress (because of our cat- long story!) so it didn’t go through the actual mattress….so happy about that!!
We didn’t have any water damage, but my partner and I were both super sick. We managed to eat soup at 4pm and I don’t think we moved from the couch until we headed to bed at 8pm.
In the long run it’s pretty amusing I think. I’d rather go out to a fancy dinner on a night when it isn’t packed & overpriced.
Yeah, we both said we’d never forget this V-day!
Hope you are feeling better. :)
Fajita/tacos are a big favourite of ours too! We always use a seasoned black bean mash but next time I’ll try the lentil walnut meat! Scallions are also a must for us!
Ooh, I was wondering what to make for dinner tonight – sorted, and easily amended for my carnivorous husband.
Hope you get the allergies licked soon, and your leak fixed!
Mmm these look absolutely amazing. I found out last night that I enjoy red, yellow and orange peppers after thinking my whole life that I despised peppers, so I CAN’T wait to try them in a fajita! I hope you guys had a great belated-valentines!
I used to hate all peppers too! What were we thinking??
Oh no your Valentine’s Day sounds like…not so much fun! I’m so sorry you had an allergic reaction and that your bed got soaked through by the leak. That is truly no fun at all. The fajitas however look excellent! My exboyfriend’s mom used to make me vegan tacos using lentils when I’d go visit them, and they were so delicious. I might have to make a deconstructed fajita bowl since I can’t have grains for two weeks (an allergy elimination diet) but this is a great idea for dinner tonight! Thanks Angela! Hope you and your bed are feeling better!
Oof, that’s rough! Did you ever figure out what was going on with your allergies? Feel better!
Also, the colors in this dish are so vibrant and beautiful! Makes me crave tacos…
Not yet, but the rashes have gone away and things seems to be getting better with my eyes. I’ve gone for two different kinds of allergy testing so I hope to have more answers soon. Or maybe I will never know!
Aww- that does sound like a terrible Valentine’s Day. But one of those days where next year you guys will laugh about how bad it was.
I also loved fajita night as a child, and continue to love it as an adult. I will definitely be trying this recipe- especially with the lentil walnut meat, as I’ve been overdoing it on soy lately.
These look SO fresh and tasty. Need to make some soon. I’m off to Austin, TX this weekend so there will definitely be some fajitas/tacos in the near future. Sorry your Valentine’s wasn’t quite as romantic as planned; hope there wasn’t any lasting water damage!
Aww, that stinks! I’m not one to put emphasis on a Hallmark holiday either but still, what cruddy timing! Did you guys get the leak fixed?
Fajita night sounds perfect!
valentine’s day gone wrong… vegan fajitas gone right! so, so right!
do you think there is a different nut that would work well in this recipe other than walnuts? i’d love to make this for a family dinner, but my sister happens to be allergic to walnuts.
thanks, angela!
heh :) I’m sure many nuts could work – or even sunflower seeds. I would try toasted almonds or sunflower seeds. But it’s still tasty without any nuts at all too.
Do you think your allergies might be related to the water damage? Maybe there is some underlying mold up there? Just a thought…
I’ve definitely thought of that…I sure hope not, but you never know. Our landlord is having someone come in to fix it and assess the damage so hopefully I will know more soon.
Hi Angela,
You have such beautiful photos on your blog! I love reading your stories too!
Have you ever wondered if you are allergic to tree nuts or legumes? You use a lot of both. I have been vegetarian for several years and had to eliminate both in the last two years because I have developed allergies to them. I suspect it is due to the frequency with which I ate them. I used to eat nuts daily and until recently I ate beans and lentils daily too.Over the past few months I was insanely bloated and my stomach felt like it was being stabbed every time I ate beans or avocado. I have since removed both from my diet and voila, flat stomach and my eyes no longer have dark circles underneath. I hope for your sake that that is not the case for you as I deeply miss all of these foods.
Danielle
I love using lentils as an alternative in recipes that typically use meat! Such great chew and texture! These fajitas look amazing.
What brand of tortilla do you use?
I had walnut “meat” at a raw vegan restaurant a while back and it was fabulous! I love the idea of adding lentils to lighten it up a bit. Gorgeous pics by the way!
quite the eventful day! the recipe looks DELICIOUS (they always do) and I always love trying out something new that you offer up! thanks so much for your awesome blog and recipe ideas!