Clean eats: green walnut tacos
I don’t think I’ve shared this with you guys yet, but I’m in the middle of a 22-day plant-based diet challenge. Well, almost in the middle- I’m on day 10 today. I say “challenge”, but deep down I’m really hoping that this will be more of a permanent lifestyle change.
Some time ago I picked up this book: 22-day Revolution by Marco Borges– an exercise physiologist who’s worked with stars like Jennifer Lopez and Beyonce (who even wrote the foreword in this book). I’ve read and heard a few interviews with Marco Borges when the book was just released and thought that a 22-day vegan challenge like this one would be perfect for me since I avoid meat and most animal products anyway. You may or may not remember-depending on how long you’ve been reading my blog- but I did try going vegan (diet-wise) about a year and a half ago and I loved it. I did, however, last only about 4 months or so. That was mainly due to the fact that I didn’t really have anyone to guide me through it, there was a lot of guess-work involved, not much of planning ahead and as you may know, a failure to plan is a plan to fail.
22-day Revolution book does not only guide me through each day of the program but also includes over 65 healthy vegan recipes. Just because something is “vegan” does not necessarily mean that it’s healthy. There are potato chips, fries, cookies, all sort of granola bars, etc. that can all be labeled as vegan, but are loaded with fat or processed ingredients. This program is all about eating fresh, healthy, green and plant-based foods that are not just delicious but satisfying and healthy. I will talk more about the book and my results once I complete the 22 days.
Today’s recipe is adapted from the 22-day Revolution book. I’d never think to use walnuts as “taco meat” and to be honest with you I was very skeptical about this recipe, but after I tried a few times I think that it’s one of my favorite recipes from this book. I modified it a bit to my liking, and if you’re willing to give it a go, I also encourage you to get creative with it.
Clean eats: green walnut tacos
2 cups of walnuts (you can also throw in other nuts, mix it up a bit)
2 heads romaine lettuce
1 TBS cumin
sea salt
red pepper flakes
garlic powder
2 TBS balsamic vinegar
black pepper
For garnish:
chopped tomato
sliced avocado
lime
pico de gallo (optional)
1. Wash lettuce and set aside.
2. Place the walnuts, balsamic vinegar, cumin a dash of sea salt, garlic powder, black pepper and red pepper flakes in a food processor. Pulse a few times, make sure not to over blend.
3. Spread the walnut meat on romaine leaves, garnish with tomatoes, avocado slices, pico de gallo and finish off with a sprinkle of sea salt and some fresh lime juice.
So far I’m really loving this program and can definitely see myself eating like this for the rest of my life. Even my husband, who does love his meat, tried a few meals from the book and loved them as much as I did. What do you guys think, would be willing to give a program like this a go?