I wanted to make tacos. I had leftover cheeze sauce, the remains of an avocado, some corn cobs that needed using, green veg, and I had promised Sylvia that I would make her some
tofu bacon. I still wasn't sure how my tacos would look. I cooked rice. I made my favourite
kidney bean and corn stew. Finally I decided I wanted avocado and bacon in a salsa.
The Seattle Times obliged with a
recipe.
The salsa was brilliant. Juicy, chewy, creamy, sour. All it needed was a little kick. I have added Tabasco sauce in the recipe below to redress this. The tacos were fantastic. I layered cheeze sauce, rice, kidney bean and corn stew, and avocado, bacon and tomato salsa in a crispy taco. So so good. So different from the chilli con carne, tomato, cheese and lettuce tacos I grew up with. I am sure this would work just as well wrapped up like a burrito.
I also fried up some asparagus, spinach, spring onions, garlic and lemon juice. It was ok but not great. Perhaps just some of the silverbeet from my garden with a garlicky lemon sauce would have been better, as I had initially planned. I would also have preferred larger tomatoes, but it is good to make do with what is in the kitchen.
For those who think this is quite a complex meal to make from scratch, I say yes. I also will claim it is possible with a bit of staggered cooking. I had already made the cheeze sauce and marinated the tofu bacon on a previous night. I used tinned beans and love the kidney bean and corn stew because it is so simple. As was the salsa. Then you have time to laugh at a child with a saucepan lid on her head and argue with her about the name of Paul Kelly songs.
I am sending these tacos to
Jacqueline for
No Croutons Required, an event that usually focuses on vegetarian salads and soups. This month the theme is sandwiches to accompany salads and soups. Fortunately Jac is being very inclusive in what she will accept - it seems anything bread-related that can encase a filling will do. Tacos, bagels, chappatis are all welcomed.
Previously on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
One year ago:
Vegan Chocolate Caramel Slice
Two years ago:
Healthy Blueberry Muffins
Three years ago:
High tea walnut, quince and maple syrup biccies
Four years ago:
NCR: 'Chinese' Soup
Avocado, facon and tomato salsa
Adapted from
The Seattle Times
serves 2
1/2 medium avocado, diced
125g cherry tomatoes, quartered
1/3 to 1/2 cup diced and fried
tofu bacon
1/2 spring onion, finely sliced
juice of 1/2 a lime
dash of tabasco sauce
Mix all ingredients together. Taste and adjust seasonings. (I didn't add any salt and pepper but the recipe says salt and pepper to taste). Best to make and sit for about 5-10 minutes before serving.
Tacos with avocado, facon and tomato salsa
A rough guide:
Crispy taco shells
Vegan cheeze sauce (recipe coming)
Cooked brown rice
Kidney bean and corn stew
Avocado, facon and tomato salsa
Heat taco shells, brown rice and stew. Layer cheeze sauce, brown rice, stew and then salsa on tacos.
This post is part of
Vegan Month of Food October 2012. Go to
my Vegan MoFo list for more of my Vegan MoFo posts.
On the stereo:
Songs from the South: Greatest Hits: Paul Kelly
I can feel this blog becoming my weekly institution read. Cheers for your quirky take on life, your wonderful home style recipes, your retro style and the stage left music selections at the bottom of your post. I miss the music when it isn't there :). Love Paul Kelly and the Aussieness of these taco's. I will wait till Tomatoes aren't $5 a kilo till I tackle this monster :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Fran - so glad you are enjoying the food and the music. On the stereo helps me to try and challenge both myself and E not to fall into a rut with listening to the same music over and over! I can't wait for tomato season after buying some that looked great and were disappointing
DeleteIt looks delicious! Kudos for the effort that went into it.
ReplyDeleteThanks Cakelaw - staggered effort doesn't feel so bad - if I had made all this on one night I would have collapsed :-)
DeleteYum, I love the sound of tofu bacon in salsa! The asparagus side sounds like a yummy combination, was it out of place with the rest of your meal?
ReplyDeleteYour photos of the tacos in hand look great with the backgrounds too.
Thanks Mel - the tofu bacon worked really well - have made this salsa again because I loved it so much. The asparagus dish didn't work so well but when I tasted leftovers the next night it tasted ok
DeleteThey look great Johanna if quite time consuming (I find things like lasagna the same but worth it :)). Hubby loves Paul Kelly, me, not so much but he makes up for it :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Lorraine - a bit of work on dinner is definitely worthwhile if you have time - I am not a fan of everything paul kelly has put out but I love a lot of his music - Leaps and Bounds always makes me feel a little patriotic
DeleteThat is pure genius! And you have reminded me that it has been far too long since I last had taco's.
ReplyDeleteThanks Chele - go and make yourself some tacos - they are so yummy :-)
DeleteThis does have a fair few components, but I think I'd like your version much, much more than standard veggie tacos. I also like how you served everything up on the plate separately. I quite like to eat parts of my meal together and parts separately :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Kari - I feel like I am getting more comfortable with making tacos which helps me experiment more - serving more on the plate is easier than trying to keep filling taco shells to be satisfied enough - esp as eating the filled shells is so messy
DeleteThese look so yum! To get the "kick" you're looking for, instead of tabasco you could try the adobo sauce with chipotle peppers. Chipotle is my favourite ingredient to turn up the heat. Another fab post, Johanna!
ReplyDelete