Recipe: Best Meatless Tacos Ever

 WARNING:  this is not an easy recipe.  But it’s not THAT difficult, just really time consuming but oh, so worth it!

A friend sent me this recipe when I was looking for more meatless meals. I didn’t think that it sounded that great but I trusted her review and gave it a shot.  Both my husband and I agree that it was very flavorful and we didn’t even realize that there wasn’t any meat!  Even if you say you don’t like cauliflower, it’s marinated in a beer and lime concoction.  The salsa alone is worth making for chips another time. 

Makes about 6 tacos

Ingredients

• 1 head cauliflower (about 1 pound)

• ¾ cup beer (any kind)

• 1 tablespoon lime juice

• 1 ½ teaspoons soy sauce

• 1 ½ tablespoons chipotle hot sauce

• 1 to 2 cloves garlic, sliced

• 1 ½ teaspoons chili powder

• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika

• ¼ teaspoon ground cumin

• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder

• Pinch of salt

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• ½ yellow onion, chopped

• 6 tortillas

• 1 avocado, sliced

• Quick Lime and Cilantro and Slaw (below)

• Fire-Roasted Salsa (below)

Directions

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Chop cauliflower into small florets no bigger than a quarter.  In a saucepan, warm the beer, broth, lime juice, soy sauce, hot sauce, and garlic over medium heat.  Add the cauliflower and simmer for about ½ minutes.  Drain.

3. Toss the spices, salt, and olive oil together in a large bowl.  Add the cauliflower and onion and stir until coated. Spread out onto a rimmed baking sheet and bake until browned, stirring halfway, about 20 minutes.

4. To make the tacos, warm the tortillas in the oven or microwave for a minute and then pile them high with the cauliflower filling, slices of avocado, slaw, and top with plenty of salsa.

Here’s how the cauliflower turned out:

Ingredients

• ½ head of green cabbage (about ½ pound)

• 1 small carrot

• 2 tablespoons lime juice

• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar

• 1 teaspoon olive oil

• 1/8 teaspoon salt

• 1/3 cup chopped cilantro

Directions

Cut the cabbage into the thinnest strips you can and make sure they are no longer than two inches long. Chop the carrots into thin matchsticks of the same length. In a small glass, mix together the lime juice, vinegar, oil and salt. Add the dressing right before you are going to eat and toss well. Add the cilantro and serve.

Makes enough for 4 to 6, about 2 ½ cups

Ingredients

• 1 can (14.5 ounce) fire-roasted diced tomatoes

• ½ white onion, chopped (about 1 cup)

• 1/3 cup chopped green onions

• ½ cup chopped cilantro

• 3 serrano peppers, chopped (remove the seeds for less heat)

• 8 cloves roasted garlic (easy – here’s how to roast garlic)

• ¼ teaspoon ground cumin

• Juice of ½ lime

• Salt to taste

Directions

Throw everything in a blender or food processor and blend to your liking (chunky, smooth…) Keeps for about 4-5 days.

Here’s how the whole thing worked out. So delish. Give this a try for Meatless Mondays!  It’s full of awesome veggies. I swear you will want to make it again (despite the effort it takes to make it)! Try it because I actually typed out all three recipes – it was a lot of work.