Veggie Vortex

Here's my homemade vegetarian version of the Taco Bell classic, the famous Crunchwrap. If you're craving a dense, guilt-free, indulgent meal after a hangry drive home, this is the perfect recipe that can be prepped the night before!

Let's make the Beans First!

I take around 1.5 cups of red kidney beans for a family of four. Feel free to adjust measurements as needed. Usually, if you soak the beans for 2-3 hours before cooking, they cook faster and are softer. However, with an Instant Pot, you can skip the wait and cook these hands-free in around an hour!

Go ahead and add the beans to an Instant Pot with 5 cups of water. Set the timer to 40 minutes and let them cook on high pressure. After 40 minutes, allow the steam to release naturally and manually release the rest once 10-15 minutes have passed. If you see a lot of excess liquid left, strain it and transfer the beans into a deep pot. Squishing one with your finger is one way to check if the beans are fully cooked. There should be some resistance to the pressure exerted by your finger, but it should easily give away. They shouldn't be mushy at the touch because they're overcooked, and the texture may be off-putting.

To the pot, add 2 tablespoons of Spice Island's Taco Seasoning, as well as 3 tablespoons of your favorite salsa. Mine is Kirkland's Organic Salsa because it lacks the tomato puree flavor of most other store-bought salsas while enriching my beans with its smokey and spicy taste. Do NOT add salt because the combination of the taco seasoning and salsa is more than enough salt. Next, I use a potato masher to mix everything together while lightly crushing some of my beans. After adding 2 teaspoons of salt, I let this simmer on low heat for 10 minutes. Make sure to mix it regularly; otherwise, it might stick to the bottom of the pot and burn!

Now, Let's Assemble the Rest!

While the beans cool down, dice some plum tomatoes, chop some iceberg lettuce, and toss them into a bowl together. If you have an air fryer, you can put 4 hard taco shells in there until they turn lightly golden brown. I usually leave mine in for 5 minutes at 350 without pre-heating. You can use an oven if you don't have an air fryer. Once those shells have cooled down, you can take them out and break them in half to have two D-shaped hard taco shells left. Now, you can take one large Mission (or any other brand) tortilla and put 4 teaspoons of beans in the middle. On top of the beans, you can add your lettuce and tomato mixture. Next, add two D-shaped shells on top and lightly press down so everything seems contained under the circle. Finally, add your cheese of choice on top of the shell and fold your tortilla over everything like a pentagon. I put the final creation in a quesadilla maker for the sake of ease, but you can also put it on a pan and flip once one side becomes brown and crispy.

I recommend you eat it as is instead of cutting it in half, which leaves room for everything to fall out, but I enjoy garnishing it with cilantro and jalapenos if you have some!

P.S. If your tortilla is smaller than you thought, same and don't worry! The cheese at the top will crisp up and hold everything together!