Playing with my food

 I was mucking through the kitchen pantry this morning and found a partial jar of steel cut oats* which needed to be used. Since we do not eat oatmeal on any sort of regular basis, I thought I would do a little experiment with them. I remembered reading a long time ago about a vegan option for taco "meat" using the oats as a starting point. I figured I might as well give it a try.

Trust me when I tell you this is not a recipe, but is just my trial and error attempt at making something palatable using the oats

To begin with I cooked the oats until they were almost done. (Next time I will cook them with a little beef bouillon or in beef broth for added flavor). I put them in a strainer and rinsed until the water ran clear. (Don't fuss at me about wasting water. I saved it to water plants) I did have to stop and stir the oats a few times to clear all of the starchy goo.

Next came the experimental part. I used all the herbs and spices I normally use when making tacos; oegano, ground cumin, ground coriander, chili powder, garlic powder,  a little onion powder just because, and a little paprika for color.  I can't tell you the amounts I used though. I did a lot of single grain taste tests to get it geared to my particular palette. When I had the spices correct, it still felt a little off so I stirred in about a half tablespoon of olive oil. That made a surprising difference in the "feel".

This is what the finished product looked like. I think next time I might add a little tomato paste to the cooking liquid for a more intense color. 

I decided the real test would be to have it for lunch as a taco filling. Luckily I had a ziplock bag with some leftover taco shells, and some tomato slices, onions and lettuce left over from our burger night. I was too lazy decided I could live without shredding any cheese and had no sour cream, so I guess this was a partial version of what a traditional taco at my house would be.

Normally I would have the "meat" at the bottom of the taco and some is, but I added a bit more to the top so you could see it.

And now it has been eaten and it's time for the final judgement. I ate about half with no salsa on it, and it was not very good. It was not bad, but it did not have that ummph that a taco should have. The salsa changed it completely. The mouth feel is much different than using ground chuck as the base, but it was still very tasty. I think with shredded cheddar and a dollop of sour cream it would be really good

Final thoughts? I took the remaining taco oats and put them in freezer bags labeled taco extender. I plan on using half traditional taco meat and half taco oats the next time we have tacos for dinner. I am not going to tell TheHub to see if he even notices. Luckily he does not read this blog , so . . . 

SHHHHH!!!! Mums the word!

* First step this week using one hard to use pantry item