You’re gonna need the following:

1 cup dried lentils

1 medium onion (I used yellow)

garlic cloves, like 6 maybe, IDK your life or your palate

2 1/2 cups of veggie broth, low sodium for ~health reasons~, with a little extra in case you need more near the end

1 tsp neutral-ish oil

And then you need your spice list. I guess you could use a premade taco seasoning packet, but making your own spice mix rocks because you can adjust the flavors to suit your individual tastes. This is my mix; I tend to use heaping teaspoons and flat tablespoons, so I guess these measures aren’t exactly-exact. They’re close enough, though.

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp oregano, dried

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp paprika (smoked)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

1 1/2 tsp cumin, powered

1 tbsp chili powder

Directions:

Dice your onion and garlic; I used a yellow onion and like 6 cloves of garlic, but feel free to adjust. Add these and a teaspoon of your oil of choice (I used olive) to a nonstick pot with deep-ish edges (like this one, my fav pot ever) and cook over medium until the onions are no longer crunchy. 

Add your spice mix and 1 cup dried lentils to the onions/garlic and let all the flavors get to know each other—so like, cook it for a minute or two until your kitchen starts smelling really nice. Do not burn your seasonings or my grandmother will rise from her grave and smack you with a wooden spoon or a shoe, whichever is closest at hand.

Add your veggie broth to the mix. Amp up the heat and bring it to a boil before reducing to a simmer. Leave it covered for about 30 minutes, until lentils are tender.

Take the cover off your lentils and let ‘em thicken up, stirring every now and then so crap doesn’t stick to the bottom and burn. If they seem under cooked at all, add more veggie broth and then cook it down some more.

FOR THE LOVE OF MY GRANDMOTHER’S GHOST, TASTE THE FUCKING THING HERE!!! Add salt if you need to. Add more garlic powder if you need to. Taste it, ruminate, and make adjustments. This is YOUR taco filling and YOU need to love it, so make it your own, please.

Put your lentil taco filling on a tortilla or a taco shell (or fuck it, a taco salad, IDFC), slather it in whatever toppings your heart desires, and enjoy a taco that won’t kill you and is tasty as fuck.

I put my filling on whole wheat, low-carb tortillas, then topped it with romaine, tomato, avocado, cilantro and sour cream. The boyfriend ate his with cilantro and raw onion. Both renditions were great. We’re gonna fuck up the leftovers tomorrow. Next time I’ll experiment with adding some jalapenos and other non-dried stuff to the cooking mix.