Today is going to be a great day. I’m writing this just a little before 6:30 in the morning and just looking at these pictures and remembering how yummy these quinoa taqueritos (a blend of burritos + tacos) has already solve a problem for me. Now I know what’s for dinner!
Since the family hasn’t joined me going gluten free, coming up with dinners that make everyone happy has been a bit of a challenge. The hubby is still hopelessly addicted to Gardein products and the boys were hard enough to feed without taking anything else out of their diets.
The easiest solutions have been pizza (which we had last night) and Mexican dishes like this one. I made this a couple of weeks ago in the very early days of my gluten free experiment and it was so yummy! I’ve yet to master rolling out big tortillas like the store bought ones I use in the Southwestern Quinoa Burritos, so something I can use smaller tortillas with is working for me right now.
(Is it just me or do store bought gluten free tortillas taste like cardboard? Anyone have suggestions?)
And before you ask, if I ever get around to taking a picture of one of my pizzas I will share my gluten free pizza dough recipe. If I didn’t know it was gluten free I wouldn’t know it was gluten free. Even the hubby – who is famous for just taking all of the toppings off the top of a pizza and leaving the crust (a crime in my book) gives it his thumbs up.
By the way, thanks to everyone who has reached out to me in the last couple of weeks via site comments, Facebook and email. Your support with this whole process has been amazing and I get a boost every time I hear from one of you about your experiences. It’s been pretty wild because I NEVER in a million years would have saw myself being a gluten free AND vegan. That’s just too weird, too out there and I’ve always thought of myself as a pretty mainstream person. I’m not a hippy or an activist or even a tree hugger. Nor a total health food nut, someone with food allergies (or so I thought) or someone who jumps on the latest trend.
At least I’ve never thought of myself as any of those things.
Um, yeah. Here we are.
And you know what? It’s not so weird when I deconstruct it. Vegetarian was a no brainier because I’ve always hated meat. That’s one reason you won’t see me judging because what do I know – I gave up something I didn’t even LIKE.
I became vegan for a lot of reasons and that really is a post in and of itself. Most likely on another website. I’ll just sum it up to say that after watching movies like Earthlings and Food Inc.
Attempting to take gluten out of my diet happened after hearing so many readers shared with me how much better they felt without gluten and then I read Wheat Belly
The hubby is joking that I have some diabolical plan to make our diet more difficult to follow and that every few months I spring something new on him. He says if I go raw-gluten free – vegan he’s outta here.
(Don’t worry – it’s not gonna happen…though I did just get a dehydrator…. 
)
Adapted from one of my favorite sites, Veggie Kids.
Ingredients
- Adapted from Veggie Kids
- 8 quinoa corn tortillas (or corn tortilla of your choice)
- Olive oil spray
- Coconut oil for frying tortillas
- ½ cup green onion, diced
- ½ cup shredded cabbage
- 1 cup corn, thawed
- ½ red or green bell pepper, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 ½ cups cooked quinoa
- 1 ½ cups cooked black beans, drained and rinsed
- ½ cup salsa
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- 1 avocado, peeled and diced
- Shredded romaine lettuce
Instructions
- Heat a skillet to medium heat and spray with olive oil spray. Add onions, cabbage, corn and peppers. Cook for six minutes. Add garlic and cook for one minute more. Add in quinoa, black beans, salsa, turmeric, cumin, garlic powder, chili powder, sea salt and black pepper. Stir until well combined and cook for three or four minutes, or until heated through. Add lime juice and stir. Turn off heat but keep your skillet on the eye so it stays warm while you heat the tortillas.
- Using a smaller pan, heat ¼ inch of coconut oil (or oil of choice) over medium high heat. Allow the pan plenty of time to get hot and then add a tortilla. Cook for about one minute per side and remove to a plate lined with paper towels. Repeat with remaining tortillas. (If you have a gas stove or grill you can skip the oil and heat for a few seconds over the flame, using tongs to flip.)
- Form the tortilla in your hand and fill with the quinoa, bean and veggie mixture. Top with avocado and lettuce and serve.
{ 0 comments… add one now }