Poblano and Tofu filled TACOS

Inspiration comes from various places, and lately it has been in the form of very small local shops in my Prospect Heights neighborhood that are being inventive with tacos as a medium for yummy vegan options. There are some work days when it is just hard to figure out how to find energy to cook and I am truly grateful to these little enterprises that have given me a way out. Then I crave that tasty morsel at home, and just have to give it a try! Here is a way to start on this path that I hope will inspire you to wander to your own delight. I took simple ingredients: 2 poblano peppers, 2 little onions, a small handful of mushrooms, a block of tofu, a dab of miso and a few teaspoons of spices, plus 5 corn tortillas and we had a taco dinner that was out of the ordinary, really fun, and left us conjuring up a "next time" with all sorts of additional options.  Here's what I did.

You will need over an hour of prep time as the tofu has to soak in the paprika sauce, and then most of the ingredients need to roast half an hour or so in the oven.  The good news is you can roast the peppers and at some point put the tofu in the oven too, easily getting everything ready to eat at the same time. Honestly, this first effort I complicated matters by forgetting to get the corn tortillas ... so I tried to invent them too... which was really fun and gave a nice grainy bottom layer, but no way could we wrap. I am definitely going to get the necessary fine-grind corn meal (harina) and try the tortilla project again. When I get it to work, I'll blog it because I really liked having a thick grainy corn plate under these, and eating with a fork was fine. For now, though, just buy the tortillas!

Paprika Tofu Tacos (3 big helpings)

1 block firm or extra firm tofu
3 teaspoons (or more) paprika
1-2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon oregano (crush it into a fine powder)
.5 teaspoon or less salt
1 tablespoon sweet chili sauce (or sweet/sour sauce or salad dressing)
1.5 cups water

for topping:
1-2 chopped up dill pickles
4 scallions, chopped


1. Compress slabs of tofu, about 6 using the whole block, by placing a dish towel on a baking sheet, spread the slabs on the dish towel then fold the dish towel over the slabs, and place another baking sheet on top with a solid weight on it -- like a pile of books, or cutting board with a kettle on top, or something weighing a couple pounds.  Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl.
2. After compressing for at least an hour, cut the tofu slabs into 1.5" long rectangles (slice the shorter way and then in half again). Put these carefully in a shallow bowl and cover in the sauce. Soak a while, an hour or so, carefully rearranging so that the sauce covers all the facets of the little rectangles. Spread on a tin foil covered baking sheet, drizzling the sauce over the surfaces, reserving a little to add after turning.
3. Heat oven to 400 F, and bake about 15 minutes, turn, drizzle, and bake another 10 minutes. These will be dry and coated red.
4. Chop the pickles and scallions -- about a tablespoon per serving -- to add to the taco. You could add fresh cilantro to this if you have some!
5. Heat corn tortillas one at a time over a hot burner, lay on plate and cover with tofu with chopped pickle mixture on top.


Poblano Peppers & Onion Tacos (3 big helpings)

2 good sized poblano peppers
2 small onions (I used Cippolinis)
1-2 teaspoons red miso
1 teaspoon crushed basil
3/4 cup water
.5 cup mushrooms (I used bunashemeji but enoki or button would be fine)

1. Cut peppers lengthwise into about 5 pieces each, and onions into 8 wedges each (quarter and slice again).
2. Mix red miso and herbs with water in a bowl. spread tin foil on a baking sheet and spread out the vegetables, lightly drizzling the miso mixture on each piece. bake (roast) in oven at 400F for a total of about half an hour, adding a little more miso moisture and separating the onion layers, de-sticking the peppers from the foil a couple times.
3. Remove from oven and slice into 1/4 inch strips (I cut across the whole pile of stuff, not separating onions from peppers), so that this will be easily bite-sized.  put mushrooms in a microwave save bowl and heat for less than a minute. this will soften and bring out the juices of the mushrooms.
4.  Heat the tortillas, spread the pepper-onion mix, top with mushrooms, and drizzle a little miso sauce on top.

Paprika Tofu Tacos (makes 3) Nutrition Facts Serving Size: 1 taco (383g) Amount Per Serving % Daily Value* Calories 329 16% Total Fat 16g 25% Saturated Fat 3g 15% Trans Fat Cholesterol 0% Sodium 410mg 17% Total Carbohydrate 21g 7% Dietary Fiber 5g 18% Sugars 2g 0% Protein 27g 55% Vitamin A 5% • Vitamin C 10% Calcium 26% • Iron 37% * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calories needs. courtesy of cronometer.com using my data.

Roasted Poblano Onion Taco (makes 3) Nutrition Facts Serving Size: 1 taco (218g) Amount Per Serving % Daily Value* Calories 99 5% Total Fat 1g 1% Saturated Fat 0g 1% Trans Fat Cholesterol 0% Sodium 68mg 3% Total Carbohydrate 21g 7% Dietary Fiber 4g 16% Sugars 5g 0% Protein 3g 6% Vitamin A 0% • Vitamin C 76% Calcium 5% • Iron 7% * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calories needs. courtesy of cronometer.com using my data.