{"id":10675,"date":"2013-04-14T20:48:58","date_gmt":"2013-04-15T03:48:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailywaffle.com\/stage1\/?p=10675"},"modified":"2020-05-03T06:15:42","modified_gmt":"2020-05-03T13:15:42","slug":"taco-tuesday-taste-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailywaffle.com\/stage1\/taco-tuesday-taste-off\/","title":{"rendered":"It’s a (pre)Taco Tuesday Taste-Off"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"vegetarian<\/a>Hold the phone, is this seriously a post for tacos? Are you trying to tell me there\u2019s some grand secret for browning some ground beef in a skillet, adding some spices and then piling it into a crunchy store-bought shell with lettuce, cheese and salsa? Look closer, my friend. That there taco isn\u2019t a standard issue Taco Bell remake. So what gives? It’s a pre-Taco Tuesday Taste-Off.<\/p>\n

Now, don\u2019t go foodier than thou on me.\u00a0 Picadillo is legit for tacos, though it usually has potatoes in it. Around here, we call the bastardized version Taco Packet, though ever since Alton\u2019s Taco Potion #19<\/a>, there\u2019s no packet involved, and it\u2019s almost always eaten in a burrito, but that\u2019s just us.<\/p>\n

This taste-off was born of my dabbling with reducing or replacing the meat in the foods we eat most.\u00a0 It\u2019s worked out because as Wolf\u2019s been training for his triathalon(s), he\u2019s being pretty vigilant about diet and he\u2019s been open to more beans and legumes. We usually don\u2019t eat crunchy tacos, half the time they\u2019re broken in the box, and between the two of us, we usually don\u2019t finish off the box before they go stale, so it\u2019s either soft tacos or burritos. For the purposes of this exercise, you needed to be able to see the results, so crunchy it is.<\/p>\n

My goal was to vegetarianize the Taco Packet without resorting to faux meat products. \u00a0Could you get roughly the same texture and flavor? A quick google suggested lentils and cauliflower (hat-tip to Fat Free Vegan Kitchen<\/a>). You have that same skeptical look on your face that I did.\u00a0 But look: the taco on the left, turkey.\u00a0 The taco on the right, lentils and cauliflower.\u00a0 You didn\u2019t see it before though, did you?<\/p>\n

To keep it same-same, the taco on the left is ground turkey made with \u00bd a batch of Taco Potion #19<\/a> and 2\/3 c. beef broth. The taco on the right, lentils and cauliflower with \u00bd a batch of Taco Potion #19 and 2\/3 c. water.\u00a0 The only extra nudge the lentils got was 1 clove of sliced garlic tossed in during cooking.<\/p>\n

Results:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Visual<\/strong>: Neck and neck. If you\u2019re not looking for it, you probably won\u2019t immediately notice one is meat and the other is not. I\u2019ll chalk that one up to years of Taco Bell conditioning and possibly the ones I ate in school lunch. A pile of lettuce, cheese and salsa also helps to divert attention.<\/p>\n

Taste<\/strong>: Neck and neck. I think I actually prefer the lentils and cauliflower. \u00a0The spice mixture gets in there and you get a more concentrated pop of flavor than with the turkey.\u00a0 Fair disclosure, I made the turkey a couple of nights before, so it was slightly disadvantaged by leftover status.<\/p>\n

Texture<\/strong>: Advantage turkey. The lentils and cauliflower don\u2019t quite match the bite of the turkey, but compensate with better flavor distribution.<\/p>\n

Versatility<\/strong>: Neck and neck.\u00a0 Both the turkey and lentil\/cauliflower will work in multiple form factors. In a burrito, you\u2019re already used to the idea of beans, even if they\u2019re usually an accompaniment to chicken, beef or pork. \u00a0These days, you could easily take the lentils and cauliflower, hit them with an Indian curry spice mix, roll it in a tortilla and call it a wrap.<\/p>\n

And with that, yeah, let\u2019s call it a wrap.<\/p>\n

\"vegetarian<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n\t\r\n\t

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\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i> Print Recipe<\/a>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t
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Vegetarian Crunchy Tacos<\/h2>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i>\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tServes: 8 tacos - 4 burritos<\/span>\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i> \r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCooking Time: 35 minutes<\/span>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t
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Ingredients<\/h3>\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t