This is how it started. I was rifling through my freezer and came across a container of cooked quinoa I forgot I had in there. Quinoa is a hard sell on my daughter and spouse but I hate wasting food. Then I saw a recipe on line that combined quinoa, corn, tomatoes and black beans into a Mexican casserole. I pulled out of the cupboard some red rice I thought would go nicely with the quinoa and saw a jar of lentils, which called out to me. So I started by cooking the red rice and when that was halfway done, I threw in a cup of lentils. Then I I chopped up an onion and sautéed it in olive oil. I added my thawed quinoa and a clove of chopped garlic. I added the red rice and lentils to the mix, tossed in a can of corn and half a can each of black beans and diced tomatoes. I gave it a big dose of cumin (don’t skimp on the cumin) and my trusty Ted & Barney’s salt and pepper mix. More pepper, more salt. I chopped up a dried ancho chili in my coffee/spice grinder and added that. I chopped up an anchovy for some umami and some black olives, because why not?

At that point my spouse walked in and asked if I was making tacos. I looked at him, looked at the pot and said of course! My daughter had asked for tacos a few days prior, but we hadn’t made them and I had the box of shells sitting on my counter. I was going to add some Beyond Sausage, but decided the mixture didn’t need it. It tasted as if it already had meat in it.

I then tossed the shells in the preheated oven for five minutes and in the meantime chopped up some lettuce and grated a block of cheddar cheese.

Seriously these tacos were so good, you would never know there wasn’t beef in it. The spouse said they tasted like Taco Bell.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup of cooked quinoa
• 1/2 cup of cooked lentils
• 1/2 cup of cooked red rice
• 1/2 can of black beans
• 1 can of corn
• 1 small onion
• half 8 ounce can (okay four ounces) of diced tomatoes
• A few black olives diced
• 1 clove of garlic chopped
• Red pepper flakes
• Salt and pepper
• Cumin
• Box of taco shells
• Lettuce
• Cheddar cheese