Cooking with nutrition: Plant-Based veggie Tacos

Plant-Based Recipe (vegan friendly)
Veggie Tacos with homemade whole wheat tortillas + fresh pico

Homemade Whole Wheat Tortillas
2 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour 
1/2 cup  avocado oil or coconut oil or olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup water heated in the microwave for 1 min 
 
1. In the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer set with a dough hook, pour in the flour, oil and salt. Beat with the paddle until crumbly, about 3 to 5 minutes. Scrape the sides as needed. If your hand-held mixer comes with dough hooks those can be used as well.
2.With the mixer running, gradually add the warm water and continue mixing until the dough is smooth, about 3 minutes.
3.Take out the dough and divide it into 12 equal sized pieces. I do this by making the dough into a big log shape that is about 8 – 10 inches long. Then I cut it in the middle. Then I cut each of those pieces in the middle and so on until you have 12 pieces.
4.Using the palms of your hand roll each piece into a round ball and flatten it out on a baking tray or board. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for at least 15 minutes or up to one hour.
5.Heat a cast iron skillet, griddle or 12-inch skillet over med-high heat. The pan should be fairly hot before you begin cooking the tortillas.
6.On a lightly floured board or counter top, use a rolling pin to turn each ball into a 8 to 10 inch flat circle (measure against your recipe if printed on a 8.5X11 sheet of paper). Be careful not to use more than a teaspoon or two of flour when rolling out each ball into a tortilla because too much excess flour will burn in the pan.
7.Grease the pan with a touch of oil and then carefully transfer each tortilla, one at a time, to the pan and cook until puffy and slightly brown, about 30 to 45 seconds per side. Set aside on a plate to cool slightly. Eat within an hour, refrigerate or freeze.
 *whole wheat tortilla recipe is from 100 days of real food*

The tortilla part of this dish, is probably the most time consuming, but it is totally worth it + really not that difficult! We make them and save them in the fridge for the next 2-3 days, heat up in the microwave and eat them with nut butter and banana. This is our Meal Prep Sunday meal, so we can have the tortillas for the rest of the week! But YOU can definitely make these tacos with a premade whole wheat tortilla, just read the labels. (Most premade tortillas use animal products (lard)- so you want the 1st ingredient to be “whole wheat flour” and no animal products.
 
Pico To Mexico- Veggie Tacos

chop bell peppers, mushrooms, onions, and zucchini or your favorite veggies-

Cooked Quinoa (having pre cooked grains in your fridge will be the ultimate life saver. We have food prep Sundays in our house and cook several different grains and store in the fridge. They always come in handy for quick, easy dinners. But you can also throw them on a salad with some homemade dressing and you have an easy well rounded meal)

Black Beans, 1 Can of unsalted black beans- cooked in drizzle of coconut oil and cumin, garlic powder, salt and pepper and a drizzle of honey or agave syrup

Pico De Gallo, The perfect pico de gallo is equal parts raw yellow or sweet onion, roma tomato and jalapeno, with fresh cilantro, salt and pepper and lime juice. But the best part of cooking is being able to substitute, add, subtract anything you can think of! Make it how you like it- I love to add a little red bell pepper.

Cooking the veggies: In about 1 TB olive oil Sautee onions and bell peppers 1st- for 5-10 minutes until browned and delicious, add mushrooms next- roughly 5 more minutes before adding the zuchs, add in taco seasoning (we make our own, cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, paprika and salt and pepper) simmer all together for another 3-5 minutes then.
 
Assemble in your tortilla and enjoy!