¿Quieres Tacos?
If you’re a vegetarian or vegan and you’re craving delicious tacos, chances are your options at the local Mexican restaurant or taco truck will be slim-to-none. For vegetarians, potato and egg (if they’re serving breakfast), maybe bean and cheese (if the beans aren’t made with lard). For vegans…oops, sorry. Chips and salsa, anyone?
I recently read a Food Network article entitled 50 Tacos. As the title implies, it was a list of fifty taco fillings. Of those, here are the ones I could theoretically eat:
- Mushroom (sauteed shallots and mushrooms tossed with lemon juice, parsley, and hot sauce)
- Nopalitos (cactus from a jar, cooked in oil and topped with onions, jalapeno, cilantro, radishes, and lime juice)
- Sweet potato (sweet potatoes roasted with chili powder and salt, black beans, and sour cream)
- Kale and egg (kale simmered in water with oil and garlic, and mixed with scrambled eggs and hot sauce)
- Poblano (broiled poblano peppers and onion, tossed with sour cream and lime juice, and served with cotija or feta cheese)
- Spaghetti (cooked spaghetti warmed with tomato sauce and…OH COME ON!)
I’m allergic to kale and I don’t care for sweet potato and nopalitos. I’m not even going to dignify the spaghetti with a response (even though I know they’re going for some sort of bastardized fideo concept there). So that leaves…
All of the mouth-watering tacos listed below (and many more, of course)!!!
Portobello and Poblano Fajitas
From Cookie and Kate, these are simple to make and taste simply incredible. Portobello mushrooms, onion, and poblano peppers are soaked in a marinade of olive oil, lime juice, minced jalapeno, cumin, coriander, and chili powder and then sauteed until tender. Scoop into warmed flour or corn tortillas and top with avocado sauce or fresh avocado slices and pico de gallo and you’ll be saying “Meat? What meat?”
Beer Battered Avocado Tacos with Fresh Corn Salsa
The Beeroness (love that name!) is obviously all about the beer, as these tacos prove. Her homemade corn tortillas are made with masa harina, salt, and, you guessed it…beer! Avocado slices are dipped in a simple beer batter and fried (I wonder if we could bake them instead?), and the tacos are topped with a salsa of corn, jalapeno, red onions, cilantro, scallions, tomatoes, and lime. Bonus: they’re vegan and gluten-free! If you’re a fan of beer but not avocados, try these Beer-Battered Cauliflower Tacos from Fork and Beans instead.
Vegan Breakfast Tacos
If you’re in the mood for breakfast or brinner (breakfast for dinner), how about Minimalist Baker’s Easy Vegan Breakfast Tacos? Deliciously-seasoned and scrambled tofu combined with black beans and topped with red onions, avocado slices or guacamole, and salsa and served in a warm corn tortilla. Yum!
Chorizo Tempeh and Potato Tacos
If you don’t care for tofu but tempeh suits your palate, try these tempeh and potato tacos seasoned with traditional Mexican chorizo spices from Rachel Hartley.
Spaghetti Squash & Black Bean Tacos
Now these are “spaghetti tacos” I can get behind! Spaghetti squash cooked with zesty seasonings and lime juice, mounded into crispy blue corn taco shells, and topped with tangy cotija cheese and cilantro. What’s not to love? (and not weird at all!)
Wrap them up!
A taco just isn’t a taco without a soft tortilla or a crispy shell. There are some good brands out there if you’re looking for store-bought. For corn tortillas, we use Food for Life’s Sprouted Corn Tortillas. Food for Life’s has other tortilla options as well, including Sprouted Whole Grain Tortillas, gluten-free Brown Rice Tortillas and Exotic Black Rice Tortillas, although we haven’t tried them.
We don’t use flour tortillas often, but every now and then we’ll pick up a dozen fresh-made when we visit a local Mexican restaurant for lunch or dinner.
For crunchy shells, we use either Bearitos Organic Taco Shells
or the organic shells from Whole Foods’ 365 brand.
You can also easily make your own! Check out Nava Atlas’ instructions for making soft corn tortillas.
And, last but not least, we have a fantastic recipe for homemade Taco Seasoning that allows you to skip the “flavor enhancers” (MSG!), preservatives, and artificial ingredients in the store-bought packets. I make this in bulk because we use it so often!
And while I’m not an avocado enthusiast, Vickie sure is! If you are too, be sure to check out Vickie’s Spicy Guacamole recipe.
Finally, here are some links containing many more amazing veg taco recipes:
81 vegetarian taco recipes that take Taco Tuesday to the next level
A Review of the PlantPure Nation Movie (VZ 119)