Taco Tuesday

It's time for another Taco Tuesday. Here are six yummy taco recipes to help you through the day, including Mushroom Corn and Poblano Soft Tacos and Portobello Bulgogi Korean Tacos. Enjoy!

BUFFALO CAULIFLOWER TACOS WITH AVOCADO CREMA

This is from Lindsay, whose blog, Pinch of Yum, is really good. Feel free to check it out!

This recipe begins, “This colorful, spicy, crispy, mega-yum recipe was inspired by the amazing buffalo ‘wings’ at J. Selby’s in Saint Paul and this recipe from Sarah Sullivan. Thanks to both sources of inspiration!”

Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 30 minutes Yield: 8-10 tacos (probably 4-5 servings)

To view this online, click here.

Ingredients

Buffalo Cauliflower Tacos:

1 cup flour

1 cup milk

1/4 teaspoon each garlic powder, salt, and pepper

1 head cauliflower (4-5 cups florets)

3/4 cup hot sauce (I used Frank’s brand)

shredded cabbage or slaw

chopped fresh cilantro

tortillas

Avocado Crema

2 avocados

1 clove garlic

1/4 cup sour cream (yogurt would work, too)

1/4 cup water

1/2 teaspoon salt

squeeze of lemon or lime

Instsructions

Batter the cauliflower: Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Whisk flour, milk, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Dip cauliflower pieces in the batter and let excess drip off. Place on parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake on an upper rack for 15-20 minutes until lightly crisped and browned.

Spice the cauliflower: Gently toss the baked cauliflower in a bowl with the hot sauce. Return to pan. Bake for another 5-10 minutes.

Avocado Crema: Mix all ingredients in a food processor or blender until smooth.

Slaw: Toss the slaw with some of the avocado crema until it’s nice and creamy.

Tacos: Fill each tortilla with slaw, cauliflower, a drizzle of avocado crema, and cilantro. Perfection!

Notes:

Gluten Free: use almond meal and GF corn tortillas.

Vegan: use non-dairy milk and skip the sour cream in the sauce.

Cauliflower Pro Tip: It helps if you have a greased wire rack to back the cauliflower on – this allows excess batter to drip down and promotes crispiness. 👍🏼 But it works fine without, too.

Notes about texture: The texture as written is pretty firm and crispy, but not deep-fried-level crispy. Not surprisingly, you’d have to deep fry to achieve that. Which you could totally do! Here’s a recipe with a deep fry batter that I’d recommend if you want to spend the time doing that (it’s delish). But to me, this is a really great middle-of-the-road alternative that is a) much easier, b) healthier, and c) still really tasty!

ROASTED CAULIFLOWER AND BLACK BEAN TACOS

This comes from Ali in her cool blog, Gimme Some Oven. Check out her blog!

This yummy recipe begins, “These Roasted Cauliflower and Black Bean Tacos are topped with a zesty tahini-cumin-lime crema, they’re naturally gluten-free and vegan, and muy delicioso.”

Total Time: 50 minutes; Prep Time: 25 minutes; Cook Time: 25 minutes Yield: About 4 - 6; Vegan

To view this online, click here.

Ingredients:

Taco Ingredients:

1 batch Turmeric Roasted Cauliflower (see below)

1 batch Black Beans (see below)

1 batch Cumin Lime Crema (see below)

corn tortillas*

toppings: diced avocado, chopped fresh cilantro, fresh lime wedges, pepitas, and/or thinly-sliced radishes

Tumeric Roasted Cauliflower Ingredients:

1 large head cauliflower (about 2 pounds)

4 medium garlic cloves, peeled and minced

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon each: ground cumin, kosher salt, paprika

1/2 teaspoon each: crushed red pepper flakes, freshly-cracked black pepper, ground turmeric

Refried Black Bean Ingredients:

1 small white onion

2 (15-ounce) cans black beans

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 teaspoon each: chili powder, Kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper

Cumin Lime Cream Ingredients:

1 small garlic clove, peeled and minced

1/4 cup lime juice (about 2 limes)

3 tablespoons tahini

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon Mexican hot sauce (such as Cholula)

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions:

To Make the Tacos:

Prepare the cauliflower, refried black beans and crema as directed below.

To serve, place a layer of refried black beans in a tortilla, top with roasted cauliflower, a drizzle of the crema, and your desired toppings.

To Make the Turmeric Roasted Cauliflower:

Heat oven to 450°F.

In a large bowl, mix the cauliflower, garlic, olive oil, cumin, salt, paprika, crushed red pepper flakes, black pepper and ground turmeric until evenly combined.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat, then place the cauliflower in a single layer on the sheet. Roast for 25-30 minutes until it is tender and browned, stirring once halfway through.

Serve immediately.

To Make the Refried Black Beans:

Peel and halve the onion, then slice into half-moon shapes. Drain the beans, reserving 1/2 cup of the can liquid.

In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until translucent, about 3-4 minutes. Add the beans, reserved can liquid, kosher salt, chili powder and black pepper. Turn the heat to medium low and cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring often and smashing the beans toward the end of the cook time, until most of the liquid has cooked out and the texture is mashed and thick. Scrape the bottom and sides of the pan as necessary. Taste and season with additional salt as desired.

To Make the Cumin Lime Crema:

In a small bowl, stir together the garlic, lime juice, tahini, olive oil, hot sauce, cumin and salt until evenly combined. Add 1-2 tablespoons water if necessary to achieve a creamy consistency.

*If you’d like to char the tortillas, turn on a gas burner to medium heat and place the tortilla directly on the grate. After about 15 seconds, once the edges are lightly charred, use tongs to flip the tortilla. Then heat on the opposite side until lightly charred. Repeat for all tortillas, keeping a close eye on them while cooking so that they do not catch fire.

LOADED GUACAMOLE VEGETARIAN TACOS

This is from Karen, the Soup Addict. Karen wrote, “Veggie-loaded with lots of guacamole, black beans, corn, and peppers, these vegetarian tacos are full-on yummy.”

Prep Time: 20 minutes; Cook Time: 8 minutes; Total Time: 28 minutes; Serves: 6 tacos.

This can be viewed online at http://soupaddict.com/2014/06/loaded-guacamole-vegetarian-tacos/.

Ingredients

for the guacamole

2 avocados, pit and skin removed, roughly chopped

1/2 of a lime

1/2 of a lemon

1/4 salt (plus extra as needed)

1/3 cup corn kernels (raw, from about 1/2 of a large cob, or thawed from frozen)

1/4 cup red bell pepper, diced

2 tablespoons diced poblano pepper

1 tablespoon diced red onion

1 tablespoon diced jalapeño pepper

2 teaspoons minced cilantro

1 clove garlic, minced

for the black beans

1 can black beans (15 ounces)

1/3 cup corn kerns (raw, from 1/2 of a large cob, or thawed from frozen)

1/4 cup red bell pepper, diced

1/4 cup poblano peppers, diced

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

for the tacos

6 small flour or soft corn tortillas

2 cups chopped iceberg or romaine lettuce

1 tablespoon minced cilantro

hot sauce, such as Cholula or Sriracha (optional)

lime and/or lemon wedges

Instructions

prepare the guacamole

Mash the avocado in a medium bowl with a fork (or molcajete) until it reaches your desired consistency, chunky or smooth. Add a small squeeze each of lime and lemon juice, along with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Mix well and taste. Add more lime juice, lemon juice, and salt as you like. Stir in the remaining guacamole ingredients. (To make ahead, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and press gently against the guacamole. The entire surface of the guac should be touching and covered by the wrap, to keep air out. Then, cover the bowl with a second sheet of wrap, and refrigerate.)

prepare the black beans

Add all of the black bean ingredients to a 2 quart sauce pot and heat over medium-low until hot. Turn off the heat and allow to cool to a very warm, eatable temp (a few minutes should do it).

assemble

If the tortillas are not soft and pliable (or if you like your tortillas warm), stack them on a microwaveable plate, separated with paper towels, and heat for 20 to 30 seconds.

Line half of each tortilla with lettuce. Spoon the black bean mixture over the lettuce (on half of the tortilla). Spoon guacamole on the other half. Top with a few shakes of hot sauce (optional) and a sprinkle of cilantro. Serve with lemon and lime wedges.

PORTOBELLO BULGOGI KOREAN TACOS

This is from Rachael Hartley in her blog Avocado A Day Nutrition. (Nice blog, Rachael! I just signed up for it!) Rachael wrote, "Beef bulgogi Korean tacos are one of my favorites. Try this vegan twist using meaty portobello mushrooms, which soak up all the delicious marinade." Serves 6.

You can view this yummy recipe online here.

Ingredients

Mushrooms:

6 medium-large portobello mushroom caps, cleaned and sliced 1/2 inch thick

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup mirin (see note, below)

2 tablespoons dark sesame oil

3 scallions, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons raw sugar or coconut sugar

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon gochugaru (see second note)

Slaw:

1 bag of shredded cabbage

1 large carrot, shredded on the large grates of a cheese grater

2 scallions, thinly sliced

8 corn tortillas

First Note: Mirin is a Japanese cooking wine and is made from rice. It's supposed to be sweeter than sake. Since I don't keep alcohol around, I use water in place of miring.

Second note: Gochugaru is Korean chile flakes. If you can get it locally, and plan to use it in several dishes, great. Since I probably wouldn't use it elsewhere - unless I fell madly in love with it - I might consider something a little cheaper and more generic.

Instructions

Two to four hours before cooking, whisk together all the marinade ingredients for the mushrooms. Add portobellos and toss to combine. Refrigerate and marinade 2-4 hours.

When ready to cook, heat the grill to medium-high. Place the mushrooms evenly on the grill or toss into a grill pan if you have one. Reserve the marinade. Cook about 10 minutes total, flipping halfway.

While the mushrooms cook, pour the reserved marinade into a small pot. Set to medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Boil about 10 minutes total until reduced to a thick syrup. Set aside.

Warm the tortillas. Spoon slaw on the bottom of each tortillas. Top with mushrooms and reserved sauce.

JAMAICAN CURRIED TEMPEH TACOS

This comes from Vegetarian Times, and begins, “The yellow curry filling, mustard greens, and red pepper strips lend these spicy tacos the colors of the tropics.” Yield: Serves 4.

To view this online, click here.

Ingredients:

1 Tbs. peanut oil

1 small sweet onion, such as Vidalia or Walla Walla, diced (1 cup)

1 8-oz. pkg. tempeh, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1/2 cup unsweetened pineapple juice

2 Tbs. chopped cilantro

2 1/2 tsp. curry powder

1 1/2 tsp. grated fresh ginger

1 Tbs. lime juice

1 tsp. grated lime zest

4 6-inch corn or flour tortillas, warmed

1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper

1/2 cup curly mustard greens, finely chopped

2 Tbs. chopped peanuts, optional

Instructions:

Heat oil in nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, and cook 3 to 5 minutes, or until onion is softened. Stir in tempeh, pineapple juice, cilantro, curry powder, and ginger. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook 5 minutes, or until pineapple juice evaporates and tempeh starts to brown, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, stir in lime juice and zest, and season with salt and pepper.

Fill tortillas with tempeh mixture. Add red bell pepper and mustard greens. Top with peanuts, if desired.

Nutrition Information: Calories: 220; Protein: 14 g; Total Fat: 7.5 g; Saturated Fat: 1.5 g; Carbohydrates: 26 g; Cholesterol: 0 mg; Sodium: 313 mg; Fiber: 7 g; Sugar: 6 g

MUSHROOM, CORN AND POBLANO SOFT TACOS WITH AVOCADO CREAM

I originally found this at Oh My Veggies. The site has a mess of taco recipes from different places, which can be found http://ohmyveggies.com/vegetarian-taco-recipes/>here.

From Garnish with Lemon. View this online at http://www.garnishwithlemon.com/mushroom-corn-and-poblano-soft-tacos-with-avocado-cream/ Yields 5.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 (8-ounce) package mushrooms, sliced

1 cup chopped onion

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 garlic clove, minced

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 large poblano pepper, seeded and chopped (about 1/2 cup)

1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen corn

1 (14.5-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained

1/2 cup salsa

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, divided

1 teaspoon hot sauce (or more, depending on your preference)

Kosher salt

10 taco-sized corn or flour tortillas

1 ripe avocado, peeled, pitted and diced

1/2 cup sour cream

Chopped fresh cilantro, for garnish

Directions:

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add mushrooms to the pan and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add remaining tablespoon of oil to the pan. Stir in onions, oregano, garlic, chili powder, cumin and poblano pepper and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add corn and beans to the skillet and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove pan from heat and stir in salsa, 1 tablespoon lime juice and hot sauce. Season to taste with salt.

Place avocado, sour cream and remaining lime juice in a blender and blend until smooth. If avocado cream is too thick, add additional lime juice to reach desired consistency. Season to taste with salt.

Warm tortillas according to package directions. Spoon mushroom mixture into tortillas, garnish with avocado cream and chopped cilantro. Serve.