Green Lentil Tacos

Entree

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Lentils stand in for ground beef in this flavorful taco “meat,” and chard slyly adds further nutrition

Ingredients

1 teaspoon olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped (about 1 cup)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup dry lentils, rinsed and drained
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 (14-ounce) can lower-salt chicken or beef broth
1 cup water
A couple squirts of Tabasco (optional)
1 (12-ounce) package Cut `n Clean Greens Green Chard
1 cup prepared chunky salsa
12 hard taco shells, or soft taco-size tortillas
Garnishes: Shredded lettuce, chopped fresh tomato, shredded cheddar cheese, chopped avocado

Preparation

Heat oil in a large non-stick skillet. Sauté onion until tender, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and sauté for another minute. Add the lentils, chili powder, cumin and oregano; cook and stir for 1 minute to toast spices.

Add broth, water and Tabasco (if using); bring to a boil. Stir and reduce heat to lowest; cover skillet and simmer for 35 minutes or until the lentils are tender.

While lentils are cooking, remove half the chard from the bag (6 ounces) and mass it on a cutting board. Chop more finely. Save rest of chard for another use.

When lentil cooking time is up, uncover, stir in chard, turn up heat and cook for another 5 minutes or until mixture is thickened. Turn heat off and stir in salsa.

Spoon about 1/4-1/3 cup of lentil mixture into each taco shell and top with your favorite taco fixin's.

Serves 6.

Use this to substitute for the ordinary taco meat you would prepare for homemade tacos, and also use it in cheese quesadillas, in burritos with rice and cheese, in enchiladas, and even dabbed onto tortilla chips for nachos. This mixture freezes well, so one useful strategy is to make up a full recipe of it, promptly freeze half, and put the other half in the refrigerator, labeled. Eat on it all week long, in all the ways described above, and when it is gone, pull the extra one out of the freezer and let it thaw in the refrigerator. A few days later, you will be ready for more.