National Grilled Cheese Day Meets Taco Tuesday...GRILLED CHEEZE TACOS (and Summery Tomato and Sweet Garlic Soup).

Yes, people. I'm completely serious right now. VEGAN. GRILLED. CHEEZE. TACOS. And they are sooooooo gooooood. What made me think of such a bizarre and ridiculous thing?! Well, since you asked...
You guys already know that I'm a pretty die-hard foodie...especially when it comes to holidays. One of my favorite things about holidays is making delicious vegan food: for myself, for my family, for my friends, and heck...for my puppy! (Candy cane dog biscuits are gonna be a thing in my household this Christmas...I'll share the recipe, don't worry! :) ) However, when said holiday happens to be a FOOD HOLIDAY like today (HELLOOOOOO #NATIONALGRILLEDCHEESEDAY!), the little girl that still lives inside me screams even louder than she does on regular holidays. I mean, what's better than AN ENTIRE DAY DEDICATED TO ONE FOOD...especially when that food just so happens to be a GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICH. With that said, let's backtrack a little bit. I'm a huge food-holiday lover...including the WEEKLY food holidays: Meatless Monday, Waffle Wednesday, Pancake Sunday, and the star of today's recipe inspo: TACO TUESDAY. I was trying to think of a creative way to combine these two food holidays into one, and thus, it seemed I had two options. Option 1: taco grilled cheese. Think crispy bread slathered with homemade guac and stuffed to the brim with all my fave taco topping goodness. Tempting, but BORING. Everyone does that. (Although this recipe looks pretty darn tasty when swapped with vegan "meat" and cheeze!) That brings us to option 2: Grilled cheese tacos. WHAT?! Uh-huh. My first thought was, "HOW?!" (This might have been your first thought too...!) I mean, think about it: a grilled cheese is delicious, gooey,  melty cheese inside two slices of bread (duh...). How exactly can you turn that into tacos without just changing the shape of the grilled cheese sandwich?! Ah-ha...now we're getting somewhere!
Behold, my friends, my original creation...the first recipe of it's kind, straight outta my crazy head: The Fit Vegan Ginger's Grilled Cheeze Tacos. Delicious toasty bread cubes inside perfectly crispy romaine lettuce leaves and slathered in my sinlessly gooey and delicious cheeze sauce. And because a grilles cheese isn't complete without a bowl of tomato soup, I've included the recipe for my luscious Summery Tomato and Sweet Garlic Soup! This is such a unique and delicious spin on an old-time foodie fave, and it's a perfect meal for a warm spring day like today! The lettuce "taco shells" in place of bread give it a nice and light feel, while the slightly sweet tomato garlic soup adds a nice palate cleanser to the richness of the cheeze. Convinced?! Mission accomplished. Enjoy, fitties!

Grilled Cheeze Tacos and Summery Tomato and Sweet Garlic Soup.

THAT CHEEEEEEEEEZE.

Crispy, crunchy, cheesy, healthy...all in one. So good.

Summery Tomato and Sweet Garlic Soup.

Thick and creamy goodness.

Grilled Cheeze Tacos with Summery Tomato and Sweet Garlic Soup. Vegan, Gluten-free. Serves one.

Ingredients
Grilled Cheeze Tacos
1. 4 large romaine lettuce leaves, washed and dried
2. Two slices vegan bread of choice, cubed
3. One recipe "Basic Cheeze Sauce" (see this post!)
4. Chopped parsley, for garnish

Summery Tomato and Sweet Garlic Soup
1. 1 cup canned tomato sauce
2. 1 cup plant-based milk of choice (I used cashew, but soy would be BOMB)
3. Salt, to taste
4. 1/2 small clove garlic, grated (less if you're not that into garlic's spiciness)
5. 1/4 tsp onion powder
6. Less than 1/8 tsp stevia or sweetener of choice
7. Chopped herbs of choice, for garnish (I used parsley, but chives would be great too!)

Method
1. Preheat oven to 400 F and line a baking sheet with parchment. Place bread cubes on parchment (you cold spray with coconut oil cooking spray, if desired) and bake until crispy, about 15-25 minutes, flipping halfway through.
2. Remove bread cubes from oven and let cool 10 minutes. When cool enough to handle, fill lettuce leaves with bread cubes and set aside.
3. Combine all ingredients for soup in your vitamix or high-speed blender and blend until smooth, starting on low speed and working up to high. Pour into small bowl and chill until ready to serve.
4. Prepare cheeze sauce according to recipe instructions. Drizzle cheeze over tacos and sprinkle with parsley. Serve with chilled tomato soup and a side salad.

Cheezy Cauliflower and Kale Casserole

What do you think of when you hear the phrase "comfort food"? For me, my go-to comfort food favorites pop into my head. Oatmeal (of course!), banana nice cream, raw carrots (don't ask me why!), and now, this Cheezy Caulifower and Kale Casserole. This is the ultimate vegan (or non vegan, for that matter!) comfort food. Something about cauliflower and cheese (or in this case vegan cheese!) just screams comfort. 

So grab your favorite chick flick (or action film if you're into that!), jump into your cozy PJ's and dive into this casserole. Sounds like a pretty perfect night to me. 

Cheezy Cauliflower and Kale Casserole. 

Cheezy Cauliflower and Kale Casserole; Vegan, Gluten-Free. Serves one. 

Ingredients 

1. 10 oz. cauliflower florets

2. 9 baby carrots (or 2 medium size carrots) peeled and chopped 

3. 2 kale leaves, finely torn

4. One recipe "basic cheese sauce" (recipe in a previous post)

5. 1/4 cup chopped onion 

6. 2 tsp minced garlic

Method

1. In a non stick skillet, sauté onion and garlic in some water until tender. Add carrots and about 1/8 cup more water. Cook until carrots are tender. 

2. Add kale and cook about 2 minutes, just until kale is wilted. Remove from heat and set aside. 

3. Make your cheese sauce. 

4. While cheese is cooking, place your cauliflower in a large soup pot and cover with water. Boil until tender. Drain and set aside. 

5. When cheese is almost completely thickened (you still want it just a tad but runny for this recipe) add to the cheese pot your onion sauté and cauliflower. Mash the cauliflower into the sauce with the back of a fork. Stir very well to thoroughly coat everything in the sauce. 

6. Coon about 5 minutes then transfer to a small casserole dish. Spread evenly, and bake at 350 F for 20 minutes. Let cool before eating. Enjoy!