Delicious Vegan Artichoke Tacos Recipe -- Gluten Free, Allergy Friendly, Paleo Option, and Frugal

 

I love eating out. Seriously. For years, I did it very rarely, maybe twice or three times a year, but at a certain point more recently, I realized that my mental health required me not needing to cook every single meal I ever ate, so I started budgeting in eating out to my monthly budget. 

However, as much as I enjoy eating out, sometimes its less the experience of eating out, and more that I taste some really amazing foods that I've never had before, and then I have fun trying to recreate those dishes at home, so that I can get restaurant quality food without needing to pay restaurant prices.

So one time not so long ago, I ate out at this Mexican place with my kids, and I got a few different dishes, all wonderful. But this one particular dish, these vegan artichoke tacos, oh they were swoon-worthy. Literally I felt like crying tears of joy as I took each bite. It was, to put it mildly, out of this world amazing.
Next time I was in the general area, I went back to that place so I could have that taste of heaven again. It was just as good as I remembered.

The thing is, though the prices weren't too bad, this restaurant is far from my home. And I can't go to a far away city every time I want something this delicious.

And so, as I like to do, I tried recreating this at home.

Well, first I tried making Tex Mex artichoke and chicken, which gave me a lot of the similar flavors, but wasn't as amazing as those original tacos.

I have some masa harina in my cupboard, and each day I said that I'd make my own homemade corn tortillas, but I never got around to it. It's really difficult locally to find gluten free tortillas, so if I wasn't able to make them from scratch, it wasn't happening. Yes, I can get hard taco shells in specific stores, but they are very expensive.

I'd heard about one store that sells fresh corn tortillas, and today I made it there. I brought home some and knew that today would be the day.

And they were amazing. Definitely heavenly, but one tiny notch less perfect than the ones from the original restaurant, if only because their tortillas had a nice had crunch, but when I tried to crisp these up enough to crunch, they started cracking. The taste was perfect, but had I had that crunch, it would have been identical to the swoon-worthy artichoke tortillas.

Oh, and if you're not vegan? Still have these. These are tastier than meat tacos, in my book. Well, as long as you enjoy artichokes.

And if you do eat gluten, feel free to use wheat tortillas for this in place of the corn ones.

To make this paleo, simply use some crunchy iceberg lettuce to make a wrap instead of a tortilla, or use coconut wraps.

Delicious Vegan Artichoke Tacos Recipe -- Gluten Free, Allergy Friendly, and Frugal

Ingredients:
1 lb frozen artichoke hearts
1-2 teaspoons taco seasoning, ideally homemade (or to taste)
2 teaspoons oil
1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
2 teaspoons lemon juice (or to taste)
Guacamole, ideally homemade, ideally using this recipe
Salsa, ideally pico de gallo using this recipe, but if not, you can use a cooked tomato salsa like this, or store bought
Finely chopped fresh onion, white or purple
Cilantro
Tortillas, corn or wheat, or lettuce, or coconut wraps

Instructions:
1. Defrost your artichoke and slice it into slices approximately finger width.

2. Mix your artichokes with taco seasoning, salt, oil, and lemon juice.

3. If you have a grill pan, grill these until they have char lines on each side, then switch. If you don't, pan fry them with a tiny bit of oil, letting each side cook, then flipping over.

4. Warm up or crisp your tortilla if you can, and then pile in all the ingredients.

5. Devour.

6. Make another. Devour.

I usually write enjoy at the end of the recipe, but this time, that's a given!!!!

So, what are you waiting for??? Make this already! You'll thank me!

P.S. If you hate raw onion and/or cilantro, of course you can leave them out. But I can't promise that it'll be as amazing as with them. But it'll still be wonderful.

Are you a fan of artichokes? Have you ever had them in a taco? Does this look like something you'd try?
Oh, and if you have any good tips on how to crisp up corn tortillas, ideally in a bent shape, without them cracking, I'd love tips!