Tired of the same old cleanse? Instead of feeling rejuvenated are you feeling depleted, anxious, and cranky? (Not to mention . . . hungry?) A group of vegan taco scientists in Austin, Texas, know just how you feel, and now reveal their one-of-a-kind cleansing journey that anybody can follow and stick to—The Taco Cleanse. While the typical cleanse works by depriving you of your favorite foods, the plant-based Taco Cleanse rewards your body with what it naturally craves: tortillas, refried beans, guacamole!
Begin with a breakfast taco, the most important taco of the day. Even if you do nothing else, your mood will brighten in just 24 hours. Keep eating tacos and within a week your outlook will be noticeably improved. After 30 days, cleansers report lasting benefits—and you will, too!
The Taco Cleanse: The Tortilla-Based Diet Proven to Change Your Life by Wes Allison and Stephanie Bogdanich and Molly R. Frisinger and Jessica Morris shows you:
- How to make everything from the tortilla—flour, corn, and waffle (!)—to the thirst-quenching “Supplements” (margaritas and other beverages) that best complement your tacos
- What to put in the tortilla— beer-battered portobellos, mac and cheese, even tater tots
- How to remake popular staples like picadillo, tacos al pastor, carne guisada, and fish tacos using plants instead of, well, animals.
The Taco Cleanse is cheap, easy, and delicious. Its recipes are authentically Austin, and are sometimes even inspired by Mexico, where the taco was first created. Everything tastes better folded (exactly once) into a tortilla. Just eat one or more tacos at every meal, adding margaritas as necessary. It’s that simple.
Healing Jalapeño Popper Tacos
Makes 6 to 8 tacos
Even the most dedicated taco cleanser might occasionally get a cold. This is the perfect taco to cleanse your sinuses and your aura. Taco cleansing is all about multitasking, after all. Beginner taco cleansers might want to tamp down the heat a bit by removing the membranes (the white stuff) and seeds from the jalapeños. Don’t be a hero.
Cheesy bean spread:
- ¼ red bell pepper, sliced
- One 15-ounce (425 g) can butter beans, drained and rinsed (about 1 ½ cups)
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 2 tablespoons tahini
- 1 tablespoon white miso
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 ½ teaspoons chili powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons oregano
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground mustard
- 2 to 4 tablespoons water
Everything else:
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- ½ pound (227 g) green bell pepper, capped, seeded, and sliced into striped
- ¼ pound (114 g) jalapeños, capped and sliced into strips
- 6 to 8 Flour or Corn Tortillas
- Corn flakes
Preparation:
- Microwave the red bell pepper with a splash of water for 2 minutes, or until soft, and drain. Add to a blender with all the other bean spread ingredients except the water and blend until smooth. Add water 1 tablespoon at a time until the bean mixture is spreadable but not runny.
- Heat the oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Open a window or turn on a fan to ventilate your cooking space. Seriously. Do this. Sauté the bell pepper and jalapeños for 5 minutes, or until tender.
- Heat the tortillas using your preferred method. Spread a layer of cheesy bean spread on each. Add a few cooked jalapeños and garnish with corn flakes.
Recipe from The Taco Cleanse: The Tortilla-Based Diet Proven to Change Your Life ©Wes Allison, Stephanie Bogdanich, Molly R. Frisinger, Jessica Morris, 2015. Reprinted by permission of the publisher, The Experiment. Photo by Stephanie Bogdanich. Available wherever books are sold. theexperimentpublishing.com
