Tacos

[Guinea_Pig]

Tonight for dinner we had soy beef tacos, but they tasted bland. Any advice?
Thanks

[TheSnufflenoses]

Did you use taco seasoning mix? Packets of taco seasoning are sold in all supermarkets. From my experience, taco seasoning is so strong that it doesn't really even matter what you put it on, it'll all end up tasting like taco meat!

[caribear]

Yes, I agree with Snufflenoses. I have made them with that & they always have enough flavor. Maybe you put too much meat to not quite enough seasoning?

[Guinea_Pig]

Our problem was that the soy meat didn’t absorb the water.

[Percy's Mom]

When I use those soy crumbles from the freezer department, I usually sautee up some onions and garlic in olive oil first, then toss in the crumbles. Once they are hot, only use about 2/3 of the amount of water the seasoning packet calls for and simmer everything together for about 20 minutes. I typically don't use the packets at all, but use oregano, salt, black pepper, cumin, and chili powder from my spice rack instead.

Alternately, if you like mushrooms, chop up a bunch of mushrooms, sautee up a bunch of onions and garlic, toss in the mushrooms, sautee until everything is tender and season with salt, pepper, oregano, cumin, and chili powder. Sauteed mushrooms taste really "beefy", and you can skip the crumbles altogether.

[caribear]

Percy's Mom, yumm... that sounds great just reading it!

[Guinea_Pig]

Percy's Mom, I will have to try that next time.
The soy beef I use is not frozen.

[pink piggy lips]

When I make tacos or taco salads I go all out with the vegetarian beans (homemade or canned). Then I have fun adding the veggies.

I usually season with pepper and limes; and maybe sometimes with the seasoning mix. I cut up lots of onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, and add slices of a nice and not too ripe avocado. Sometimes I even add shredded carrot on top. I can't do the cheese/sour cream thing (intolerance).

Use your imagination. I also make my own pico de gallo (cilantro, onions, tomatoes, sometimes peppers in lime juice) to really spice up my veggie tacos or spinach quesadillas.

Now is the time to be grabbing the chili powder and cayenne pepper seasonings!

[Josephine]

I use the Fantastic Foods mix. Just add boiling water. It has all the seasonings and such. It's pretty good, I think. Maybe I just don't remember what meat tasted like, but it's good enough for me.

[VoodooJoint]

Try also sauteing corn (fresh, canned and drained or frozen) first, before adding onions or anything else. Just use a bit of the taco seasoning or chili powder and margarine or oil in the pan. Saute the corn until it just starts to brown in spots (don't burn it--it's more like roasting). Once that happens add your onion (if you use it as well as any other veggies) and cook until tender then add soy meat, seasonings and liquid as well as some black or kidney beans (so yummy) and finish cooking as any directions tell you. The corn makes it all so good you will not believe it! It really pops out the flavors.

[Guinea_Pig]

Thanks, I will have to try it sometime.