Taco Tuesday!

I cook dinner for my family most evenings.  I enjoy (most of the time) the process of choosing a week's worth of recipes, doing the grocery shopping, and preparing meals.  We're fairly adventurous eaters, though each of us has our own food issues:  my husband hates white dairy products such as cream cheese and sour cream; I won't eat raw fish or super rare meats; Abby doesn't like spicy foods; Molly doesn't like beans or meatloaf.

Over the past couple of months, I have been limiting our meat consumption to 1-2 times per week.  I did this mostly because the cost of meat has gotten so high, but also because I know a more plant-forward diet is healthier for my family.

This has been a transition for sure.

I grew up in a very meat-and-potatoes family.  My mom did not cook much on weeknights after she got home from work, so we ate a lot of processed foods and fast food, not unusual for the 1980s.  I don't fault my mom; she was doing the best she could, and to her credit, she cooked great meals on the weekends.

I never ate beans.
Or lentils.
I never heard the word "tofu" until I was an adult.

So this new way of cooking and eating has required me to learn some new recipes.  I bought a few vegetarian cookbooks and scour Pinterest for recipes that will appeal to the various inhabitants of the Rench Ranch.

Tonight's was a winner, with everyone but Molly.

You can find this super easy, quite tasty recipe here.

I served them in hard shells (as pictured) with queso fresco, pickled onion, avocado, olives and cabbage.  I'm having the filling for lunch tomorrow with the leftover toppings.  I have a feeling the lentils will taste even better tomorrow after the spices have time to blend.

Give this one a try.