Raw Tacos and Peach Mango Salsa

Raw taco shown here with both corn and tomato salsa in butter leaf lettuce cup

When I first got into trying raw food, I was kind of excited by the idea of raw tacos and taco salads. After all, most tacos have lots of raw ingredients, so it was really about finding a good substitution for the meat.  I tried several recipes that were less than exciting and eventually gave up on the idea. Then I came across this blog post by my friend, Debra Garner on her blog, Vegan Family Style, who was preparing to serve this to her family for her birthday meal. I was thinking it must be good if the family likes it so I gave it a shot and it has been my go-to taco meat recipe ever since.

The flavor of taco meat is really about the seasoning and this one has it down.  Besides having it at home, I have since served it to others at a potluck with great reviews. People have asked me to share the recipe and Debra was kind enough to let me share it here.

Raw Taco Meat

Debra's Raw Taco Meat

1 cup walnuts, unsoaked

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

2-3 cloves garlic, chopped

1-2 Tbsp Organic Taco Seasoning

3 sun dried tomatoes (soaked until soft)

pinch sea salt

Raw Taco Meat Ingredients

To Prepare:

The trick to keeping it crumbly is to dry the tomatoes after soaking. 

Toss everything in the food processor and pulse/blend until just crumbly. 

Don't over process or the walnuts will release oils and become more of a pate consistency
 (which actually could be good too!)

Raw taco meat, tomato salsa and corn salsa, with lettuce cups

Serve in lettuce leaf (both butter lettuce and romaine work well) for taco shell or over a bed of lettuce for a salad. Add your favorite salsa and other ingredients, like onions or avocado, corn etc.  (Debra has a great raw ranch dressing on the same post above.)

This week I took advantage of ripe peaches and mangos and tried out a new idea....

Peach and Mango Salsa- So good!


Peach Mango Salsa


2 mangos, peeled
2 fresh peaches peeled
1 sweet onion
1 medium tomato
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tbsp cilantro, chopped,
juice of one lime
1/3 jalapeno, seeded and diced (optional)
pinch sea salt and pepper

Fresh ripe ingredients, including heirloom tomato

Combine all ingredients in food processor and pulse until mixed.
 If you prefer chunky salsa, just chop all the above and mix in a bowl.
Chill before serving
Enjoy!!

( Note: Mine came out a little more blended then I wanted. Next time I will pulse/ chop the onion separately so as not to blend down everything so much.)

This made a little over a quart of salsa for me but amount will vary depending upon size of produce. We are finding many ways to enjoy it though!