One thing I totally miss about eating chips and meat? Taco salad! Why? Mainly the tortilla cup-shell thing, but since I don’t eat chips it would have been pointless / wasteful of me to order it. And the oily mess of the seasoned meat, and no meat eating just means you are having a salad. Which I could make for myself for a whole heck-of-a-lot cheaper than buying a $10 salad at a restaurant! I haven’t had a taco salad in so many years, I don’t even remember when. So. It’s time right? To make one and remake it into something I can eat and be okay with for the whole week. And since I love all things Mexican food and spicy, here is my vegan and gluten-free Taco Salad with non-fried chips and saucy meat!

How do you make a non-fried chip? Kind of self explanatory – you just don’t fry it, you bake it! Cut your corn tortillas and spritz them with a little olive oil and douse on some garlic powder and there you go! Awesomeness! I make these little chips a lot when I am need of some crunch and am fighting the urge to buy something unhealhty. I keep tortillas in my fridge just for this purpose. Just be sure to only cut up a couple tortillas not the whole package or else you may eat all the goodness in one sitting! Oops.

~

~

~

~

So the good thing about salads? They are super easy! The “meat” is simple, just heat a pot with the stock, tomato paste and taco seasoning until boiling then add the beefless ground. Heat through then turn off the heat and let sit. Cut all your salad veggies and portion out and make your meal. Add the cooked taco meat on top and add some chips. Super. Easy! Enjoy!

~

~

~

~

Baked Tortilla Chips

4 Mission Foods Yellow Corn Tortillas
Olive Oil, sprayed
Garlic Powder

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Spray baking sheet with olive oil.
2. Cut tortillas into 8ths (halve the tortillas then stack them together and quarter them).
3. Spread on baking sheet and spray with oil. Sprinkle garlic powder over tortillas.
4. Bake 8-10 minutes or until browned.
5. Let cool completely.

Taco Meat

1/4 C Homemade Taco Seasoning
1 Can Hunts Tomato Paste
2 C Low-Sodium Vegetable Stock
1 Pkg Gardein GF Beefless Ground

1. In smallish pot pour stock and paste and add seasoning.
2. Bring to a boil whisking to get the paste and seasoning incorporated.
3. Add beefless ground and mix.
4. Turn off and let cool.

Salad

Lettuce
Green Onions
Tomatoes
Mushrooms
Zucchini
Cilantro
Avocado
Kidney Beans

1. Chop veggies and put salad together.
2. Add taco meat.
3. Crumble some chips.
4. Enjoy!

Can add a vegan dressing if you want 🙂