The Taco Cleanse Mini Cleanse

Even if you are living in a cave, surely you have heard of the hottest craze that is sweeping the globe. The newest way to feel fabulous! I am, of course, referring to The Taco Cleanse.

Now, I must confess, I tend to be more of a burrito girl. When I received my copy of the book I posted on Instagram joking that I was going to make all the recipes into burritos. Clearly, there was no one more in need of a taco cleanse than me. I'll be honest, I was scared. I don't like spicy food. Or capsicum. And how can I supplement appropriately on the cleanse when I don't drink alcohol or fizzy drinks? Was this really the right fit for me? I did the taco quiz but I kind of ended up being a mix of results. Who was I in this taco world?

I started preparing for a mini taco cleanse by working in some taco yoga to my regular yoga practice. Lying there in soft tortilla pose, I knew I was ready for the abundance of joy that a taco cleanse could bring to my life. I picked a day, stocked up on flour tortillas ('mini'-sized aka 15cm/6in size), and readied myself. Yesterday was that day.

Breakfast

Accelerated Breakfast Taco: I thought it would be good to ease myself in with something familiar, and this accelerated breakfast taco gave me all the comfort of one of my regular breakfasts (toast with PB, banana, blueberries and cinnamon) but with the bonus of being wrapped in a comforting tortilla. The recipe calls for PB and a banana, with optional cereal. I used blueberries in cinnamon instead of the cereal. Delicious! I was worried that I would still be hungry afterwards, so I had a second one, and then I was super full!
Rating: :D



Lunch

My two breakfast tacos kept me full all the way through until lunch!

Corn Tortillas: I don't like corn tortillas. Every time I buy them they are gross and cardboardy and just fall apart. So when a recipe called for corn tortillas I decided to be brave and make some of my own for the first time. But I only made a quarter batch (3 tortillas) thinking that I wouldn't really be a fan. WRONG. I wish I made the whole batch! These are nothing like the gross store-bought ones, but are instead amazing and delicious and magical! I don't have a tortilla press, and I tried doing the pot smooshing method but they didn't get thin enough, so I ended up rolling them out. I also used baking paper rather than plastic, which may have been an error because they stuck a little. They ended up being kind of ugly, but who cares what they look like when they taste this good.
Rating: :D



Mexican Chopped Salad Tacos: The reason I made the corn tortillas was to make these tacos, which were delicious and fresh. I made a couple of changes to the salad, which may have upset the optimal anti-oxidant - oxidant balance that the recipe provides. I left out the capsicum and added grated carrot, left out the raw onion, and substituted celery for jicama due to availability issues. I also changed the dressing by leaving out the oil and using some water with guar gum instead. Don't be cranky, taco gods! I have nothing against oil, I just find that oil heavy salad dressings make me feel a bit icky, same with deep fried foods. Anyway, it all ended up being a delicious and fresh salad, and when wrapped in fresh corn tortillas it was all kinds of heavenly.
Rating: :D



Afternoon tea

I was a little peckish around the 4pm mark. So I made a kind of taco that had vegemite spread in a tortilla. With some celery sticks on the side. I am not sure where a spread inside a single folded taco sized tortilla falls in the technical taco spectrum.

Dinner

The most important type of taco in the taco food pyramid is the breakfast taco! So I decided a breakfast taco for dinner would be the optimal.

Wake and Shake Scramble: Tofu scramble is classic. And this is an easy and cheesy scramble where you shake up the tofu with the seasoning and then bake it. After a recommendation from a friend, I only used half the amount of nooch required, and this was the right amount of seasoning to coat the tofu, with a little bit of crumbly bits left over.
Rating: :)



Foundational Tempeh Bacon: This is bacon made for tacos! Finely chopped tempeh in a delicious sweet and smoky sauce. There is no marinade time required, so this comes together super fast. I had a 300g block of tempeh, so I increased all the sauce ingredients slightly, and I got about two cups worth of tempeh. Throw it in anything!
Rating: :)



Supreme Bacon, Scramble, and Cheddar Tacos: These were an amazing combination, using the scramble and tempeh recipes above. I used some sharp cheddar cheese that I had made from Artisan Vegan Cheese as the cheese here. So GOOD! The recipe is very strict about not adding in any other ingredients, though I think that some chopped tomato would be nice, but who am I to question the wisdom of expert taco scientists?
Rating: :D



'Living' Chipotle Sauce: This is also a recommended topping to try with a scramble and tempeh bacon taco. Even though, as mentioned, I don't really like spicy food, I was seized by taco madness and taco enthusiasm and thought I may as well. After all, they say that a spicy dinner taco will help your dreams! I made a small batch of this, only a quarter of the recipe. It is pretty magic how it goes from dark red chiles to a creamy, orange sauce as you blend. Taco magic! And, as expected, this was spicy. Though the heat fades fast at least. Not something I will be using regularly, but fun to try for me and I am sure spice lovers will be fans.
Rating: :)



Taco with Scramble, Bacon, and Chipotle Sauce: I did add some coriander to this for cooling properties. This was fun, but one was enough because of the spiciness of the sauce. The cheddar version is definitely my preferred version!
Rating: :)



Dessert

There are several dessert taco recipes in the book, but I was just after a quick single serve and so I created an easy dessert taco with crunchy speculoos spread, So Delicious Almond Chocolate ice cream and fresh raspberries. In a flour tortilla. Super yum!



My final taco count came in at 11 for the day (or 10.5... I am not sure about that Vegemite one). I was not only fulfilled, I was full and happy! So many tacos. As someone who doesn't eat a lot of tacos, I think I have reversed my taco deficiency in a single day! And there are so many more delicious recipes in there left to try. I slept wonderfully. I am sure my hair is at least 9% shinier today!

In short, we should all taco cleanse!

Seriously though, this book is one of the funniest cookbooks I have ever read. If I was to quote all the lines I laughed at, I would be in copyright violation. And it has had a HUGE amount of press coverage, which makes me so happy. Some of that coverage has not quite picked up that it is a parody (the recipes are real, but the premise is taking the piss out of the cleanse obsession), but other coverage has been fully embracing what the Taco Cleanse is all about. And what a great vehicle to get people thinking about vegan food as well!

So go forth and TACO!

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



On of our nurses has a cat called Taco, so what better cat to be our cute kitty of the day? Here is Taco, demonstrating some cat taco yoga.