Back to the grind today and it was painful getting out of bed this morning. But thankfully an easy day compared to last week. I banged out a quick 3-mile run when I got home intending to step up my pace more. And I figured I was since the run was more challenging and tiring. But RunKeeper reported my average pace for the run. Huh? Maybe I got a little too relaxed yesterday or a little tired from not getting as much sleep as I should of last night. Oh well, another attempt later this week.
After my smoothie breakfast and leftovers for lunch, I decided to get a little creative with black beans for dinner and broke out Ani’s Raw Food Essentials to create a creamy hemp sauce from her basic cheeze recipe on page 102.
I like that she does not give specific recipe ingredients, just “2 cups of your favorite nut or seed” for creative freedom with flavored variations in the following pages. Naturally I used hemp seeds for the base and seasoned with chipotle and turmeric for a spicy cheddar flavor.
Blending that amount of hemp seeds into a cream took a little finesse pulling the daring move of running the Vita-Mix on low with the top off while scrapping the sides to blend and get air bubbles out for a minute or so until I could crank the speed up. But I managed to get a creamy texture after only a couple of minutes.
And a gummed up Vita-Mix container once I scooped the “cheeze” out. So gummed up that I had to run it with the container full of water to clean, the sauce was so think. But very tasty.
I sauteed the black beans in a little coconut oil.
Then added some of the cheeze sauce to create a vegan taco filling.
I scooped the scrambled egg-like mixture onto more collard leaves to use as taco shells.
Then added carrot slices and chopped cilantro for partially raw vegan tacos.
The result was good, but not great. It wasn’t a bad idea for vegan taco “meat”, but it needed a little more spice kick and I wasn’t digging the bean texture in the cheeze. I’ll try it again, but probably soak the beans longer and throw them into a food processor with the sauce for a smoother texture with the black bean flavor distributed better.
I finally purchased Ani’s … Essentials yesterday (I went on a cookbook ordering binge yesterday…ordered five…UGH). I can’t wait to try this!
Awesome, there are so many great recipes in it that it’s hard to narrow down which one I want to try next, like the Brazil nut banana pancakes.
“pulling the daring move of running the Vita-Mix on low with the top off while scrapping the sides to blend”–
THAT is a SUPER bold move. More bold than i would be :)
I have that mrs dash chipotle…I dig it!
Raw taco meat. If you want to make it, I have a recipe on my site that never fails to please omni and veggie crowds alike. I dont remember how i even came up with it…but it works and take 30 secs in the vita, no sludgey cleanup required.
I appreciate this post and that you were honest…you liked it, but didnt love it. That’s honesty, that’s keepin it real :)
For some really thick sauces, the Vita-Mix needs a little help sometimes. :-) At a raw fest, I so do many demonstrators doing the same thing with their Vita to make thick chocolate sauces, etc. :-P
I’ve seen your nut meat recipe and need to try it along with Ani’s recipe again. I was just craving black beans for some reason and decided to get experimental. And not all my experiments are successes. :-P
Not everything can be a homerun, huh? Oh well– it sounds like a recipe that you can definitely tweak and play with over time!
Ugh. I made an all raw sushi last night that I liked but didn’t love so I hesitate to even blog about it. But I will. :) Thanks for the honesty. I have black beans soaking at home right now and am still not sure what to use them for yet.
No problem. :-) Sometimes my experiments are flops, but hopefully I learn from them! Next time I’ll probably put the black beans in a food processor with the cheeze sauce, then maybe heat up in a sauce pan or even microwave.
These look SO good! I have Ani Phyo’s book and shame on me- have yet to make any of the recipes. Am feeling inspired though now!!
I’ve only tried a few recipes from the book and want to try more – so many good recipes out there and so little time!
Oh yum! I made a “cheesey” sauce last night after seeing one of your nacho posts (I think)… it was good! I love Ani’s recipes- especially this one!
What a great looking Healthy meal!! I love this idea for the filling of the taco….mmmm anything with a cheezy taste is amazing :)
xxoo
These look amazing to me! I really need a vitamix, my blender stinks! I love cheezy yums so this is right up my alley!
I hope your day was well, I guess it was as you said doughballs were eaten ; )
You should totally get a Vita-Mix, I had a higher-end KitchenAid blender before that I thought was okay, but the Vita-Mix is much faster and easier to clean. I was amazed at the texture differences in smoothies!
I think the taco idea is great with that sauce and black beans! I have made taco “meat” before using brazil nuts, but I like how you used the beans. Keep working at it, you will get the recipe you are looking for :)
Christine,
These tacos look awesome! I would love to try the cheeze sauce too. Don’t worry about your run……some days I feel like I am flying and then I look and I am not!