Vegan Taco Salad (Restaurant-Style!)

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 400°.

Step 2

Use a mister or cooking spray to lightly coat both sides of a tortilla with oil. Drape it into a large oven safe bowl, or you can use a tortilla bowl pan.

Step 3

Repeat for the remaining tortillas. (You can work in batches if you need to. I used a couple of small stainless steel mixing bowls, and baked the tortillas 2 at a time).

Step 4

Bake until the tortillas are lightly browned around the edges, about 10 minutes. Carefully remove the bowls from the oven and place them on a cooling rack. Allow them to cool for a couple of minutes before carefully removing the the tortillas. (Note 2)

Step 5

Coat the bottom of a large skillet with oil and place it over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the onion. Sweat the onion until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.

Step 6

Add the garlic, walnuts, cumin, ancho chile powder and cayenne pepper to the skillet. Cook the mixture for about 1 minute, until it becomes very fragrant, stirring constantly.

Step 7

Stir in the lentils, tomato sauce and soy sauce. Bring the sauce to a simmer and cook the filling for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it thickens up a bit.

Step 8

Place the avocado, milk, lime juice, garlic, cilantro, chives, and salt into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.

Step 9

Optionally, thin the mixture with additional milk and add more salt and/or lime juice to taste.

Step 10

Divide the lettuce, cherry tomatoes, and olives among the tortilla bowls. Top each salad with lentil walnut filling, a scoop of salsa, avocado dressing, and any other taco fixings you'd like to use. Serve.