While in Sacramento this past couple of days, we thew my Nana an 83rd birthday party (her actual birthday is today)!  She has a milk allergy and is forced to avoid dairy products, so I whipped up a tasty vegan meal for her.  For dinner, we had a nice big salad and lentil tacos, which everyone loved despite being skeptical about the idea of vegan tacos.  I have a few changes that are called for in the original recipe, so I’m going to post it here because people have told me that following the recipe makes their taco filling not turn out right.

Lentil Tacos

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1 onion, diced

1 stalk celery, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 cup brown lentils, dry

1 tablespoon, plus 1 tsp chili powder (or more if you like ‘em spicy)

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon dried oregano

3 cups water or vegetable broth

3 tablespoons dried black currants or raisins, minced

1 cup salsa, plus additional for topping

In a large skillet over medium heat, saute the onions, celery, and garlic in the olive oil for five minutes or until vegetables are soft. Stir in the lentils, chili powder, cumin, and oregano. Cook for one minute. Add the water/broth and raisins. Cover and cook for 20 minutes, or until the lentils are tender. Remove the lid and cook an additional 10 minutes (until lentils are thick), stirring often. Fold in the salsa.

These tacos are SO GOOD!  Everyone always loves them every time I make them.

For dessert, I made some Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes with “cream cheese” frosting.  The inspiration for these was my Pumpkin Spice Muffins and a Pumpkin Roll recipe that my mom always made for the holidays when I was growing up.  A Pumpkin Roll is a pumpkin cake that gets baked in a sheet pan.  When cool, it is rolled up with cream cheese frosting smeared on the inside.  Although my mom’s recipe is definitely not vegan, I think a few easy substitutions could make it so.  I’ll post my veganized version of that recipe soon– but please be forewarned that I have not tried it, so I have no basis for judging how it will turn out.

Anyway, back to the “cupcapes” (as my Emma calls them).

Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

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1 cup pumpkin

1/3 cup oil

1 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup non-dairy milk

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a muffin tin with paper liners (or spray with cooking spray).

In a large bowl, combine the pumpkin, oil, milk, vanilla, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.  Sift in the dry ingredients and stir to combine, but do not overmix.  Fill the muffin cups about two-thirds fill and bake for 18-20 minutes.  Cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting, I used the cream cheese frosting recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.  Any cream cheese frosting recipe is easily veganized by subbing Tofutti BTCC (the non-hydrogenated version) and non-hydrogenated vegan margarine.

These were so moist and delicious!  Everyone loved these too, so I guess my vegan dinner was a success!