A zesty lentil walnut mix takes the place of meat in this scrumptious vegan taco salad. It's totally meatless, dairy-free, packed with flavor, and served up in a crispy (baked!) tortilla bowl!
Preheat the oven to 400°.
Use a mister or cooking spray to lightly coat both sides of a tortilla with oil. Drape it into a large oven safe bowl, or you can use a tortilla bowl pan.
Repeat for the remaining tortillas. (You can work in batches if you need to. I used a couple of small stainless steel mixing bowls, and baked the tortillas 2 at a time).
Bake until the tortillas are lightly browned around the edges, about 10 minutes. Carefully remove the bowls from the oven and place them on a cooling rack. Allow them to cool for a couple of minutes before carefully removing the the tortillas. (Note 2)
Coat the bottom of a large skillet with oil and place it over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the onion. Sweat the onion until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.
Add the garlic, walnuts, cumin, ancho chile powder and cayenne pepper to the skillet. Cook the mixture for about 1 minute, until it becomes very fragrant, stirring constantly.
Stir in the lentils, tomato sauce and soy sauce. Bring the sauce to a simmer and cook the filling for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it thickens up a bit.
Place the avocado, milk, lime juice, garlic, cilantro, chives, and salt into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
Optionally, thin the mixture with additional milk and add more salt and/or lime juice to taste.
Divide the lettuce, cherry tomatoes, and olives among the tortilla bowls. Top each salad with lentil walnut filling, a scoop of salsa, avocado dressing, and any other taco fixings you'd like to use. Serve.