True confession: This wasn’t supposed to be tonight’s meal. No, tonight was going to be a slow-cooker extravaganza with a chili I’ve been meaning to try, but then I woke up and got a whiff of the beautiful weather and thought to myself, “Let’s save the chili for another day. This is salad weather, people!” Granted, I don’t mean “salad” in the form of “iceberg wedge with lemon slice.” I think y’all know me a touch better than that these days. No, this weather called for a substantive dinner salad, one with vegan fish and refried beans and cute little tortilla bowls.
And it’s the perfect meal to enjoy after a day out and about! I took a personal day from work today to catch up on some appointments I’ve been putting off, with some errands tucked in between them, and by the time I came dragging back home – just as tired as I am when I’ve worked in the office a full day! – I knew a salad would be the perfect restoration indeed.
Indeed, this taco salad has protein, and fresh veggies, and some festive fun besides – who doesn’t love a salad masquerading in a tortilla, I ask you! And it’s easily customizable no matter what you’ve got hanging out at home. For us, tonight, we enjoyed a layer of refried beans, topped with a serving of Gardein fish filets, then plenty of romaine lettuce, then some cherry tomatoes fresh just today from our friends at Great Country Farms, then some black olives, and some beets, and finally just a hint of nutritional yeast (for me). We topped the whole shebang with some vegan sour cream and salsa, then a little homemade dressing, and were off to the races!
This is admittedly an easy sell in our home. There’s never a time when we’re not up for Mexican, and we both love the salad-for-dinner route. So vegan taco salad is never a difficult situation for us to be in! And it’s so incredibly easy to make, there’s no reason not to enjoy it often.
As it happens, we’ve got a couple of extra taco shells hanging around now that dinner is over with. There’s only one thing to do next: Have them for brunch this weekend! Tofu-ranchero bowls, perhaps? Stay tuned!
:)