Vegan Steak Tacos...Impossible?

Impossible? No way. Insanely easy and tasty to boot.

I had a craving for tacos today...what a surprise! Not. But, as much as I love tempeh, I'm kind of burnt out on tempeh tacos. A girl needs variety. I was kind of at a loss as to what sort of meat I wanted for the bundles of yum. Lightbulb! I remembered seeing Gardein had a steak substitute called Beefless Tips last time I went through the frozen aisle. I hadn't ever tried any of their other meats besides the Crispy Tenders and the Scallopinni, both of which I enjoyed, so I went ahead and grabbed a bag of the beef. I was seriously skeptical, but I needn't be; they were excellent cooked up with a little onion and taco seasoning.

I also had a ton of small, ripe cherry tomatoes from my garden, so I made my own fresh guac. I diced 2 small avocados, a handful of finely chopped red onion, halved about 15-20 small cherry tomatoes, about 1 TB of lime juice and a sprinkle of salt. Stir well, but gently, and let marinate for about 30 minutes, covered. It was delicious, especially paired with the slightly spiced beef.

The beefless tips do need to defrost about 15-20 minutes before you'll be able to cut through them. They come in chunks, so I quartered them to make them into strips of steak.

I heated a skillet over medium-high heat and gave it a light spritz of cooking spray. Once hot, I added the steak and let it cook about 3 minutes, then I added in 1/4 cup diced red onion. I added about 1 1/2 tsp of my homemade taco seasoning to give it a bit of spice. I cooked it all together, stirring occasionally, for about 8 more minutes. The steak was firmed up a bit and was beginning to crisp on some of the edges.

Stuff the taco shells with some guac and your steak and you're good to go. I ate 3 (though, I admit, the last one was a bit small) and I'm not ashamed of that.