A couple weeks ago, I was eyeing this recipe book at Barnes and Nobles called “Thug Kitchen.”

It had a ton of vegan recipes that looked delicious and didn’t require a boat load of ingredients. I talked myself out of buying it–I rarely follow recipes for cooking and figured I could look up similar recipes online. But for Christmas this year, my awesome older brother–not knowing I had wanted this book–bought it for me! Clearly, it was fate 🙂 So today, I tried my hand at my first recipe from the book: Lentil tacos with carrot-jicama slaw. But not having all the ingredients at home, I made a few substitutions. My adapted recipe (for 6 tacos) is below. I was very pleased with the results and will definitely be making these again!

To make the lentil filling:

Cook 1 cup lentils according to directions. Once cooked (about 30 minutes), dice half an onion and sautee in olive oil for 5 minutes. Add a tablespoon of soy sauce, stir, then add lentils. Add 2 cloves chopped garlic and 2 tablespoons of apple juice. Cook for 2-3 more minutes, turn heat off, then stir in 1 teaspoon sesame oil.

To make the slaw:

Mix small handful each of julienned carrots, purple cabbage and diced cucumbers. Add 1 tablespoon lime or lemon juice, pinch of salt, 2 tablespoons rice or champagne vinegar, and stir.

To make tacos:

Heat up 6 taco shells, stuff with lentils, and top with slaw. I added a touch of sriracha on top of the lentils for kick. Enjoy!

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