These tacos were eaten at 10am.

While I could say they were an early lunch, they were my fourth breakfast.

Yes, fourth.

Lest you think I am a total glutton, I did skip dinner that day.

(Don’t let Mr. Hausfrau convince you I did that just to get straight to dessert. He sits on a throne of lies.)

(Not really.)

While a supposed dessert-for-dinner is a dietary disaster, these tacos at 10am certainly are not.

They’re a mouthful to say – Vegan Tempeh Tacos with Avocado Lime Crema – and a mouthful to chew. A healthy and delightful one, I should add. The tempeh was marinated overnight in maple and spices, then sauteed up the next day in a smidge of olive oil. Did I mention, too, that the tempeh was cubed for maximum crispness opportunity? It matters.

Tangoing away in that taco with the tempeh is vegan pepperjack cheese, salsa fresca, and shredded lettuce, all topped with that avocado-lime crema that’s so tangy, fresh and creamy avocado-y that I’d like to tango with it myself.

In fact I did. No one was home but the dogs, so there’s no proof of me dipping and shimmying with a bottle of creamy green stuff. Thank you, Jebus. THAT would be embarrassing.

Will you just take my word for it that these were nothing short of glorious and almost life changing? I won’t require you to dance with your food, and I wouldn’t even advise you to eat these tacos at 10 am. But then again, I’m not stopping you.

Vegan Tempeh Tacos with Avocado-Lime Crema

1 6-ounce block tempeh, cubed
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon vegan worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon barbecue seasoning
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 cup cashews, soaked 6 hours
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 small avocado
6 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon Lawry’s seasoned salt

Corn tortillas
Vegan pepperjack cheese
shredded lettuce
salsa fresca

To make the tempeh: In a medium bowl, combine the olive oil, soy sauce, pepper, worcestershire, barbecue seasoning and cumin. Add the tempeh cubes and toss until well coated. Allow the tempeh to marinate at least 2 hours or overnight. Saute the cubes over medium-high heat in a bit of olive oil until browned and crispy.

To make the avocado-lime crema: Drain the cashew and combine them in the bowl of a food processor wiht the lime juice, avocado, water, and seasoned salt. Puree until smooth and fluffy.

To assemble the tacos: Lightly toast the corn tortillas until warm and layer the lettuce, cheese, salsa fresca, sauteed tempeh within, topping with the avocado-lime crema.

I’ll be 35 years old in May. For the last 34 1/2 years of my life, I’ve hated avocado. Until 6 weeks ago, when I fell head over heels in love with avocado and decided that I will dedicate the rest of my life making up for lost time between me and the avocado.

It’s kinda weird and pretty embarassing and no, I can’t for the everloving life of me explain it. Right now, all I can do is love all over that creamy, dreamy stuff, and I can’t find enough ways to cram it in my pie hole.

Hence, this chicken salad. Not that chicken salad needs any enhancement to make it the cat’s meow. Chicken salad on it’s own is pretty groovy. It’s certainly the highlight of any baby or bridal shower for me. I’ve even got a chicken salad rating system.

Points are deducted for a dressing that’s too loose. Further points are lost if the chicken pieces are too precisely square. I want to see some pieces that are shredded or torn. It makes me imagine someone in the kitchen savagely tearing apart a poached chicken breast with their bare hands. It’s so primal, so strange, yet so right for chicken salad.

Small bits of celery are a definite plus. But keep it small. Bits. Not chunks, ya know. Chunks are gross.

A little bit of dried fruit? Okay, now you’re really starting to impress me. Why haven’t we met before?

Served perfectly chilled, in some sort of carb contraption with a crisp leaf of lettuce? Leave me alone and let me sunbathe in all that salad glory. (Hope you don’t mind that I’m overdue for some waxing, though.)

So, as you can gather, this chicken salad meets all my requirements. AND there’s avocado in there to add a “Sweet Jesus, whatever is in here, I’d like to sleep with it” dimension that only avocado can add.

Oh, but I wish I knew how to quit you. . . .

Avocado Chicken Salad

1/2 an avocado
1 tablespoon lime
1/2 cup mayo
6 tablespoons sour cream
1/2 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon Lawry’s season salt
2 1/2 cups poached or roasted chicken breast, roughly chopped
1/3 cup celery, diced
1/3 cup dried cranberries

Combine the avocado, lime, mayonnaise, sour cream, worcestershire sauce, and season salt in a food processor and process until smooth. Transfer the dressing to a large bowl and fold in the chicken, celery, and dried cranberries until well-combined. Chill in the refrigerator at least 1 hour before serving.

This salad is my version of the Big Bowl.

The Big Bowl is a concept I learned while working in a telemarketing room during college. The Big Bowl was Robert’s lunch and Robert’s dinner. Probably his breakfast, too – I was never there in the mornings and frankly we weren’t all that tight, so I wasn’t quizzing him about his morning meals.

I’m not sure where Robert is nowadays. He was a colorful individual to say the least, with not only a flair for the culinary but also a rap sheet. A lengthy one, in fact.

Anyway, the big bowl is precisely what it sounds to be. It’s a big bowl. Of food. A little bit of this, a little that. It’s a perfect place for leftovers to land and become something fancy for lunch the next day.

It’s also mildly comforting to sit cross-legged on the couch with that big bowl snugly ensconced in your lap, blindly shoveling its contents into your mouth while you watch Entertainment Tonight.

I think.

I’ve never done it before.

I prefer Access Hollywood. Mario Lopez with those yummy, little dimples.

This big bowl is my favorite version, particularly since it seems I always have random bits of rice leftover in the fridge. Any grain will do though.

I’ve got asparagus, yellow pepper, carrots, blue cheese, parsley, a bit of olive oil, a touch of balsamic vinegar in there, too. They’ve had a chance to meet and mingle. Perhaps they’ve had a few drinks. Maybe a few dirty dances. I dunno. I avert my eyes usually.

And while we’re on the subject, I usually toss in whatever leftover protein (steak, chicken, salmon, tofu, you get it) I can corral. It’s healthy. It’s easy. It’s huggable.

Huggable lunches. I like it.

Get on it.

Brown Rice Salad

2 cups cooked brown rice
1/3 cup carrots, diced
1/3 cup yellow peppers, diced
1/3 cup dried cranberries, roughly chopped
10 stalks blanched asparagus, chopped
1/4 cup blue cheese
1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

Toss all the ingredients in a large bowl and chill until ready to serve.

What can I say about this tuna and white bean salad?

Uhh, nothing.

Not because it isn’t just the perfect little bite of refreshing and tangy and spa-like deliciousness we need this time of year. Rather because I am totally brain-dead.

In the last 3 weeks, I packed up half my wardrobe and sent it halfway down the eastern seaboard. I packed up a car and corralled 3 dogs into it, driving 16 hours, landing amongst palm trees, sunshine, and perfect blue skies.

And later, Mr. Hausfrau and I took a new neighborhood and empty house by whirlwind, arranging deliveries and appointments to fill that house with this little decorative touch or that little special piece. Because we had company coming and there was shiz to be done.

And now the house is done, the company is gone and I am D.O.N.E.

Fo real, yallz, I’m tured. Yes, tured. Because I’m too tired to say tired.

But, if you must know more about this salad, it’s cannellini beans and tuna, tossed with a lemony, pesto-infused vinaigrette, a smattering of sundried tomatoes, a touch of onion and parsley. It’s healthy, it’s real and if you eat it on a dainty plate, it has half the calories.

So, I’m going to go pass out by the pool with a dainty plate of this balanced on my boobies. Wish me luck.

Tangy Tuna and White Bean Salad

3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 15-ounce can cannellini (white) beans, drained and rinsed
1 7-ounce can of tuna, drained
1/4 cup onion, finely chopped
3 tablespoons parsley, chopped
2 teaspoons pesto
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 tablespoons sundried tomato, diced

In a medium bowl, whisk together the pesto, lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil, and salt.

Add the drained beans, tuna, onion, parsley and sundried tomatoes and toss gently to coat. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to 2 hours to blend the flavors. Serve.

Having said that, a few months ago, I saw a gorgeous curried tuna salad sandwich on Kath Eats. Because the tuna salad is used in her Great Harvest store, she can’t share the recipe for it. I cried a little bit. I softly stroked the image of that sandwich on the screen…told it I was sorry that we could not yet rendezvous. You get the idea.

Well, I must have caught a whiff of muffins baking or gotten distracted by the UPS man bringing me another Piperlime box, because I got over that sandwich like a bad habit.

Okay, end scene.

Last week, I was shaving my legs in the shower and it struck me that I use curry a lot. Normal shower thoughts, right?

And then, I remembered that we were out of tuna. Which was fine, because I was making my pilgrimage to Wegman’s that day. Are you still with me?

And then the dogs all started barking wildly – probably UPS with another Piperlime box. Well bingo, right there, the idea for a curried tuna salad was born.

True story.

If curried chicken salad revs your motors, then tuna is going to really get your knickers in a bunch, especially if you aren’t a big fan of tuna for tasting so fishy. This mixture of mayo, spices, honey, lime, and fruit mellow the flavor of that canned fish into something that, er, tastes like chicken.

I like this between thick, freshly cut slices of some hearty type of bread (whole wheat, multi-grain, anything else that looks like it will imminently move your bowels), but couldn’t resist those adorable mini potato rolls in the picture.

Because I think everything taste better when it’s mini-fied. But, let’s not call it an obsession – just a strong interest

Help.

Curried Tuna Salad

2 7-ounce cans of tuna, drained
1/2 cup apple, diced
1/3 cup celery, diced
1 tablespoon raisins, minced
1 tablespoon dried cranberries, minced
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoon lime juice
1/2 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon fresh parsley, minced
1 teaspoon fresh mint, minced
2 teaspoon curry powder

In a medium bowl, flake the tuna, breaking up most of the larger chunks.

In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, lime juice, honey, parsley, mint, and curry powder. Pour the mixture over the flaked tuna and stir to combine. Fold in the apple, celery, raisins, and dried cranberries until everything is equally coated.

Serve or store in the refrigerator in a tightly covered container.