black lentils | Emily N Cannon

I recall seeing something about cauliflower-lentil tacos on @yackattack. Tonight I was trying to figure out what to make for dinner – I’m out of greens but still had some good stuff – and went looking for a recipe, ending up at Cookie & Kate.

There are a few modifications:

Black lentils instead of brown, because that’s what I had.
Romanesco cauliflower instead of regular, because that’s what I had.
Homemade corn tortillas, because it’s just better, dammit.
For lack of vegan mayo, I made the sauce out of cashews, water, and a little dollop of Kite Hill cream cheese, plus our favorite habanero-chipotle hot sauce, blended at high speed with lime juice. It’s nice and spicy and creamy.

Now, I didn’t intentionally make tacos because it’s Cinco de Mayo. That’s an iffy holiday for white Americans to celebrate, anyway. But they are delicious, if not exactly traditional. And I’m not wearing a sombrero, drunk on Corona and cheap margaritas, so there’s that.

Tonight’s dinner is roasted carrots with black lentils and green harissa, the first recipe I’ve ever cooked out of Vedge. The lentils and carrots are both spiced with the book’s “island spice blend,” which is some pan-Caribbean spice mixture with a little sugar. I didn’t have any dried onion powder so I just doubled the garlic powder. It’s pretty tasty, though I think the recipe underestimates the amount of liquid required to cook the lentils (3 cups of broth for 2 cups of dry lentils? Hmmm. I had to add water near the end because the liquid was absorbed but the lentils were a bit al dente.)

Looking at the photo after the fact, this would make a great Halloween dish: black, orange, and green goop! SpooOoOOOOoOooOky!