THE BEST VEGGIE TACOS

Transcription

1 THE BEST VEGGIE

2 THE BEST VEGGIE TACOS EVER Spicy Black Beans, Crumbed Cauliflower, Mango Salsa, Cashew Cream and Guacamole, on Corn Tortillas. This is slow food at it s finest. These vegan tacos have been hailed by vegans and meat eaters alike as some of the best tacos they have ever eaten. Below is a collection of recipes that can be used alone, or combined to create these legendary mouthfuls of heaven. I have listed the recipes in the order in which they should be made, and popped a shopping list at the end of this document to make gathering all of your ingredients easy. I hope that I have inspired you to cook, either when you are at home and feel like spending some time in the kitchen, or are holidaying with friends and feel like cooking something together. Thank you for stopping by.

3 STEP 1 SPICY BLACK BEANS 1 C (175g) dried black beans 1 teaspoon of salt 1 brown onion 3-5 cloves of garlic stalks from a bunch of coriander 1 teaspoon of chilli flakes, preferably smoked Freshly cracked black pepper The secret to the best ever black beans is to cook them from scratch, without soaking. You gotta trust me on this. They take longer, but only a little bit of their cooking time actually requires any work, so you can let them do their thing while you are preparing the rest of this feast. Rinse and check over your beans to make sure that there are no sticks or stones lurking in your future dinner. Place the beans in a medium sized saucepan and cover with about an inch of water. Place the saucepan on a high heat until the water starts to boil and then lower to a simmer. Add the salt and allow to simmer away, topping up frequently with warm water, until beans are soft. Mine are usually soft within 90 minutes, but they can take up to 2 hours. Once the beans are soft, finely chop the onion, garlic and coriander stalks and add these to the beans, along with the chilli flakes and black pepper. If you can t find smoked chilli flakes, normal dried chilli and a dash of liquid smoke or smoked paprika works great, as do chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. Allow the beans to continue cooking until they are thick and mushy and sticking to the bottom of the pan a little. Remove from heat and cover with a lid until ready to serve. These can be prepared the day before, just add a little water before reheating as they will thicken overnight. If you don t have time to cook beans from scratch, you can use 2 tins of black beans instead. Your tacos will still taste great.

4 STEP 2 CASHEW CREAM 1 C (150g) plain cashews Whenever I make tacos for people, they always ask so what s in this cream thing then? When I respond, telling them it s just cashews and water, they can t believe it. But believe it people. Cashews and water are all you need to make this creamy accompaniment to the best tacos you will ever try. Soak the cashews overnight or boil them in water for 15 minutes. Drain the water, rinse the cashews, and then place in a blender and add enough water so that the cashews are juuuust covered. Blend until smooth, adding a little more water if necessary. Transfer to an airtight container and place in the fridge until ready to use. Will keep for 2-4 days, depending on how cold your fridge is, so this is another one you can definitely make the day before. STEP 3 MANGO SALSA 3 tomatoes ¾ red onion 1 red capsicum 1 mango leaves from ¾ bunch of coriander 1 lime a pinch of salt Finely dice the tomatoes, red onion, capsicum and mango. Chop the coriander and juice the lime. Put everything in a bowl with a pinch of salt and stir to combine. Place in the fridge until ready to serve. This tastes best on the day of making but will also keep for a couple of days in the fridge. STEP 4 GUACAMOLE 2 ripe avocadoes 1 lime 1 tomato ¼ red onion leaves from ¼ bunch of coriander salt and pepper to taste black sesame seeds to garnish (optional) If I could have dinner with three people, one of them would be whoever the heck invented guacamole. There are many ways to make this humble dip and this is just one of them. I have listed the ingredients so that they are complimentary to the ingredients required for your salsa, but feel free to get creative and use other types of onions, herbs and so on. Scoop the flesh out of the avocadoes and mash with a fork so that it s smooth but still a little bit lumpy. Juice the lime and stir this through the avocado; this is what will stop it from going brown. Finely chop the red onion and coriander leaves and stir these through. Add salt and pepper to taste, stir once more and then garnish with black sesame seeds or anything else you have on hand such as fresh or dried chilli, additional coriander, hemp seeds, paprika etc. This tastes best on the day of making but will also keep for a couple of days in the fridge if stored in an airtight container. The top will brown a little but it is still totally edible, just give it a stir.

5 STEP 4 CRUMBED CAULIFLOWER 1 head of cauliflower 1 C (120g) all purpose flour (use rice or buckwheat if gluten free) 1 C (250ml) oat milk (or almond, soy, hemp etc) 1 teaspoon of salt 1 Tablespoon each of coriander, cumin, sesame and hemp seeds (or whatever you have on hand) 2 handfuls of unsweetened cornflakes or panko breadcrumbs 1 teaspoon of garlic powder A little oil to brush the pan with Additional salt Reminiscent of popcorn chicken, this is one of my favourite creations to date. It s a wee bit labour intensive, so pour yourself a drink and sit down and relax into the task. It s worth it I promise. Remove the leaves from the cauliflower and then break the cauliflower into florets, and then into smaller florets, trimming off but not discarding the stems (they are also very tasty). You want each cauliflower piece to be about thumb-nail sized. Whisk together the flour, oat milk and salt and set aside. Brush a large baking tray or roasting dish with a little olive oil and turn your oven on to 190ºc. Using a mortar and pestle, crush your seeds a little and place in something wide with high edges. I use a pasta bowl, but a lasagna dish would also work great. Crush the cornflakes and add these to the seeds, along with the garlic powder. If you don t have a mortar and pestle, pop them in a food processor. Working in batches, coat your cauliflower pieces in batter, allow the batter to drip off a little, then toss the pieces in the crumb mix and place them on the oiled tray. I like to put about 3 pieces into the batter and then remove them with a slotted spoon and let them sit for a second. You can also place a colander over a bowl and let the pieces drip off in there. Once all of your pieces are coated, sprinkle them with salt and place the tray in the oven and cook for 20-25m. If you want them to get super crispy and brown all over you can spray olive oil before cooking, however this is not an essential step (and I didn t do this with the ones in the picture). Ideally you will make this right before you serve your tacos but you can also make ahead of time and reheat in a hot oven for 10m before serving.

6 STEP small corn tortillas Red cabbage or a leafy green of some kind such as rocket, lettuce or spinach Fresh lime A tasty beverage, preferably something involving ginger beer, lime, tequila and chilli like my spicy ginger margaritas. TO SERVE Heat your tortillas in a hot oven, finely chop your cabbage (using a mandolin if you have one), cut your lime into wedges and prepare your drinks. Reheat your beans if necessary and if they have gone super thick, stir a tiny bit of water through them to get them smooth again. BUILD YOUR TACO S Place 3 tortillas on a plate. Top with a tablespoon of black beans, cabbage, salsa, cashew cream, guacamole and then cauliflower pieces. Squeeze some additional fresh lime on top and then sit down, relax and enjoy the fruits of your labour.

7 OVERVIEW Trying to get your head around exactly how much you need of everything? I ve made a shopping list, you will find it on the next page. ABOUT THE TORTILLAS I make my own tortillas because corn ones are impossible to find in Berlin, but this is definitely a step you can skip if you live somewhere where they are readily available. To make your own you need masa harina - corn flour which has been soaked in lime - and water. Having a tortilla press helps too but it by no means mandatory, you can also use a rolling pin or wine bottle. They really are the simplest things ever, so long as you don t try making them with straight up cornflour, which will yield an entirely different result. Each brand of masa harina is a little different to the next, but they should have a recipe on the side of the bag. I use 2 cups of masa harina, a teaspoon of salt and 1.5 cups of water. To make the tortillas, mix your masa harina, salt and water together and knead into a dough. Allow to sit for about 15 minutes and then roll the dough into little balls. You will notice that the dough has a unique consistency, almost springy, as if it would bounce back to you if you threw it on the floor. Place a frying pan on a medium heat, press or roll a ball of dough flat, and then cook in the frying pan until the edges start to curl up a little. Flip and cook for another few minutes until the edges are lightly browned. When they are ready they will be quite stiff. To fix that, place them in a tea towel, which will steam them a little and make them go floppy.

8 SHOPPING LIST FRESH STUFF 2 ripe avocadoes 4 tomatoes 1 red capsicum 1 mango 1 head of cauliflower ½ a purple cabbage 3-5 limes 1 brown onion 1 red onion 5 cloves of garlic a bunch of coriander CONDIMENTS & SPICES chilli flakes coriander seeds cumin seeds garlic powder black pepper salt oil NUTS & SEEDS DRY GOODS 150g cashews hemp seeds sesame seeds 175g black beans unsweetened cornflakes 120g all purpose flour masa harina or tortillas OTHER 250ml oat