Veronica’s Almost-Vegan Taco Bowl With Jackfruit, Mushroom & Cilantro Rice

It brings me true joy to offer this reimagined traditional feast from my Mexican heritage with an almost-vegan, healthy twist: It’s taco bowl time!

My father is from Queretero, Mexico, but growing up like most American children, I became addicted to cheese and processed foods. Through the years, I realized the toaster-oven taquitos and fast food burritos were contributing to chronic illnesses I suffered from, like eczema, allergies, asthma, fatigue and digestive imbalances.

A healthier lifestyle was necessary to enjoy life again with family and friends. But who wants to live solely on kale, collard greens and sweet potatoes?! We need food with flavor! Not only that, family meals are precious and not everyone wants a lightly salted kale salad for dinner.

I’m a holistic health coach, and I am always reminding people that everyone’s body and mind are different. What one person can easily digest and assimilate can create sluggishness and problems for another. Someone who needs more spicy foods to activate and heat up their digestion can handle more peppers, while someone else who runs hot and digests quickly may want to add more cilantro to cool down.

Now, during family taco nights, we gather, are inspired to try new things, and are excited by the opportunity to be creative with spices and side dishes that work for everyone’s needs. This dish using jackfruit (or yaca) and mushrooms instead of meat and leaving out dairy works for me. It also means my family and I are still able to stay connected to our truth, our Mexican roots, and live a vital, healthy long life together.

I hope you find inspiration from my take on this traditional Mexican favorite dish and explore tasty, soul-filled vegetarian and vegan versions of your favorite dishes. Eating dishes like this can help you make happy, healthy choices for your family: choices that leave you and your loved ones feeling light, yet full and holistically nourished. I hope you enjoy my Taco Tuesday twist! If you want to go full vegan, use olive oil instead of the ghee and dtich the optional cheese garnish.

Veronica’s Almost-Vegan Taco Bowl With Mushroom, Jackfruit and Cilantro-Lime Rice

Veronica’s Almost-Vegan Taco Bowl With Cilantro-Lime Rice and Jackfruit or Mushrooms

Recipe by Veronica Giolli

5.0 from 1 vote

Cuisine: Mexican

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

45

minutes

Ingredients

• 1 cup brown rice

• 1 cup mushroom broth

• 1 cup water

• 4 Tbsp. ghee or clarified butter

• 1 white or yellow onion, chopped

• 4 cloves garlic, chopped

• 1 tomato, chopped

• 4 limes, squeezed

• 1 bunch cilantro

• 1/2 cup water (if rice is on dry side)

• Jackfruit Side

• 2 cups jackfruit (yaca), fresh, canned, or in a pouch

• Mushroom Side

• 2 cups mushrooms, chopped (crimini, portobello, baby bella or shiitake work great)

• 1 cup nopal, chopped

• 1/2 tsp. hot chile pepper, diced (optional if you like spicy)

• Spices/Garnish

• 1 Tbsp. cumin

• 1 1/2 tsp. paprika

• 1 1/2 tsp. turmeric

• 1 1/2 tsp. chili powder

• 1 cup spinach or lettuce, sliced thin

• 1/4 cup avocado slices

• 1/4 cup queso freso or nutritional yeast (OPTIONAL)

• 1 tsp. salt

• 1/2 tsp. black pepper

• The Bowl

• 8 corn tortillas (100% corn)

• 1 cup lettuce or spinach greens, per person (if not using tortillas)

Directions

• Soak the brown rice in water for several hours. Ideally overnight.
• Discard soaking water. Rinse and drain rice.
• In a medium pot, heat 1 Tbsp. of ghee. Add 1/4 of diced onion, garlic, salt and pepper. Stir and saute until aromatic and onions start to become clear—about 5 to 8 minutes.
• Add rice, mushroom broth and 1 cup of water. Cover and cook on medium-low heat for 35 to 40 minutes. Check in the last 5 minutes and add more water if needed.
• Once rice is cooked to desired firmness (about 35 to 40 minutes), squeeze the juice of 2 whole limes into the rice. Add tomato and 1 cup of chopped cilantro. MIX IT UP! (You can make 2 separate batches for those who do not want cilantro and/or tomatoes.)
• To Cook Jackfruit
• Add 1 Tbsp. ghee and jackfruit in a separate pan—plus 1/2 cup of water if needed to make your the jackfruit saute more juicy. Cook for 5 to 10 minutes on low heat.
• Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
• To Cook Mushrooms
• Add 1 Tbsp. ghee to a separate skillet. Add 1/2 cup diced onion, 1 diced garlic clove, salt and pepper.
• Add nopales and 1 tsp. hot pepper. Saute for 3 to 5 minutes. Set aside.
• Make Your Taco Bowl
• Toast tortillas on medium-high heat on a griddle or flat skillet until light brown on each side. Lightly salt to taste.
• To build your taco bowl: Line a large bowl with two to three toasted tortillas. Cover with several pieces of spinach or lettuce leaves. Spoon about 2 Tbsp. of jackfruit and/or 2 Tbsp. mushroom on the greens.
  
• Top with diced avocado. Sprinkle with nutritional yeast for a vegan cheese substitute or crumbled queso fresco cheese if you enjoy dairy.
• If you don’t want to use tortillas, replace them with greens to make a salad taco bowl. Use 1 cup spinach or lettuce per person as your base.
• Serve a bowl for everyone, let them choose their mix of toppings, and give each person a slice of lime!

Notes

• If you prefer, you can substitute vegetable or chicken broth for the mushroom broth.
• You can buy organic jackfruit fresh, in a can or in a pouch.
• Ghee is clarified butter. It is non-dairy because the cream has been boiled away. As an alternative, you can substitute avocado oil.
• Nopales are, yes: cacti. They’re delicious and nutritious. They are an optional side topping if you have someone who runs hot (ayurvedically speaking) in your family.
• You may prefer not to use corn tortillas and make this a taco salad bowl instead—perhaps to lessen the carbs.
• This taco bowl east includes jackfruit, mushrooms, nopales and ghee. Using all four adds to about 6g of protein per bowl. This is an excellent amount to have for dinner because we should be consuming a majority of our protein for lunch when our digestion is strongest. If you are eating this meal at lunch, you could always add beans or sustainably farmed, non-hormone-infused meat.