Thursday 28 January 2016

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

Accelerated Breakfast Taco


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

Corn Tortillas


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

Mexican Chopped Salad Tacos


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: :)

Wake and Shake Scramble


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: :)

Foundational Tempeh Bacon


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

Supreme Bacon, Scramble, and Cheese Tacos


'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: :)

Living Chipotle Sauce


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: :)

Taco with Wake and Bake Scramble; Foundational Tempeh Bacon; Living Chipotle Sauce


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!

Dessert Taco


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

Taco the cat doing taco yoga


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.

23 comments:

  1. That's an excellent inverted taco pose.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think I'll always be team burrito, but these tacos look absolutely amazing! And cute kitty yoga photo! :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It certainly changed my perspective on tacos!

      Delete
  3. I'm also Team Burrito but srsly considering this. Looks delicious and tummy/spiritually fulfilling.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ha ha. I love this post. So many delicious tacos... Your corn tortillas are definitely not ugly! I agree the homemade ones are a gazillion times better than the bought ones - so worth the extra effort.
    Taco is a great name for a cat :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The storebought corn ones are so gross, and the homemade ones were not too much trouble at all. So good!
      Tacocat spelled backwards is Tacocat!

      Delete
  5. All the tacos look so delicious! That tofu scramble looks amazing too. And taco the cat is adorable too!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hahaha! Love the tacos! A wise friend advised you, 'tis a terrible terrible thing to waste Nooch.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, wise friend. Nooch is precious!

      Delete
  7. Hahaha! Love the tacos! A wise friend advised you, 'tis a terrible terrible thing to waste Nooch.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I remember reading an article about how prepackaged corn tortilla helped reshape the Mexican economy because it meant women wouldn't spend all day grinding corn for dinner. They also mentioned how they tasted like garbage compared to the homemade ones. XD I need to pick up this book and get on the taco bandwagon. I am like you, burritos forever.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is interesting about the tortillas. Though I certainly didn't grind corn by hand for dinner, I bought it in a bag.
      You can totally put the taco fillings in a burrito. ;)

      Delete
  9. I'm taco-cleansing in two weeks! I made out my taco menu plan last night. The scramble-bacon taco is on that list! Glad you loved it. Can't wait to cleanse my bodymind with delicious tacos.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I can't wait to see your cleanse and find out about what wonders and joys it brings you!

      Delete
  10. I could definitely be tempted by dessert tacos!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dessert tacos are pretty great. Definitely better than dessert burritos.

      Delete
  11. I was tem burrito until I went to Austin - The Vegan Nom changed my life!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wish I had been able to eat more from there during my trip, I think I only had one taco from there! If only Austin had better public transport! It was a good taco though.

      Delete
  12. Best cleanse ever!
    "I was worried that I would still be hungry afterwards, so I had a second one, and then I was super full!"
    I like your way of thinking. I also liked that you replaced the cereal with blueberries - I think I would prefer that myself.
    I LOVE that you make your own corn tortillas. I never buy them as I'm not a huge fan, but maybe I should try making my own. Yours are quite nice looking btw!
    The wake & shake sounds really good - I need to get this book to try all of these delicious tacos!
    Dessert tacos? I had never dreamed such a thing existed.
    "Some of that coverage has not quite picked up that it is a parody"
    I was a little sad at this. I noticed some pokes made over facebook around my friends circle as they didn't realize it was a parody. I set them straight though.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So many serious articles where they have gotten the serious opinions of actual nutritionist and I just wanted to head desk. It is a parody people!
      It is definitely a super fun book though, great recipes!

      Delete