A Recipe From the Old Blog: Mock Taco Meat.

Tacos, one of my favorite childhood foods that I don't eat much of after becoming vegetarian. I've played around with some recipes before using tofu and packaged taco seasoning mix. It did the trick but I defiantly missed the meaty taste and the texture was off. Also the packaged seasoning mix was way too salty. Then I started using store bought mock chicken pieces while they help with the meaty taste, I still wasn't a fan of the texture, the big pieces or the price. So I set off to come up with a really good recipe that not only tasted like meat but also had a good meaty texture and cost effective. After looking at other mock taco meat recipes online and spending some time in the bulk food aisle of my local food co-op I came up with this recipe. I hope you enjoy.

Ingredients
-2 cups of TVP (textured vegetable protein) available in bulk section or health section of most groceries stores
-2 cups of mock chicken or beef broth or a combination of both ( I use powdered that I buy in the bulk section of my co-op. You can use mock broth in a box in the soup aisle.
-3 tablespoons soy sauce
-1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce ( I prefer Lea and Perrins)
-1 small onion
-2 cloves of garlic
-2 tablespoons olive oil
-2 heaping teaspoons ground cumin
-2 teaspoons chili powder
-1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
-1 teaspoon cilantro flakes
-ground black pepper to taste


Directions
Heat up a large frying pan on medium low heat. While the pan is heating up measure out the 2 cups of TVP and set aside. Then measure the 2 cups of broth and set aside. Dice the onion and add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil to the frying pan. Set the other tablespoon of olive oil aside for use later. Add the onion to the hot oil and sauté until the onions are soft and translucent . Just before the onions are done and the two cloves of garlic (I use a garlic press for this but finely minced garlic will work just remember to mince it right after you put the onion in the frying pan) and saute for one minute. Add the 2 cups of broth and let it warm up for 2 minutes. Then add the 2 cups of TVP and stir until most of the liquid has been absorbed. Then add the soy sauce, worcestershire sauce, rest of the olive oil, cumin, chili powder, cayenne pepper, cilantro flake, and ground black pepper. Stir until all the ingredients are combined and let cook for a few minutes. Make sure that ALL the liquid has been absorbed.