September 22, 2012
Do Work, Tacos!
September 22, 2012If you told me I could only eat tacos and nothing else for the rest of my life, I might not even fight you. I might even breathe a sigh of ...
If you told me I could only eat tacos and nothing else for the rest of my life, I might not even fight you. I might even breathe a sigh of relief, because I wouldn't ever need to create a creative vehicle in which to serve spicy, creamy, salty, crunchy, soft, sweet, or savory food ever again. If I wanted italian tonight, I'd whip up some creamy spinach and beans and fry up some seitan with oregano and white wine and chopped tomatoes, and pile everything into a soft tortilla and chow. If I wanted ethiopian food, I'd make some spicy lentils and collard greens and put them in a crispy tortilla and get down. If I wanted polish food, I'd saute some mushrooms and onions with a ton of sauerkraut, grill some tempeh and shove it all in a tortilla and be ready for shots of visniowka in minutes. If I wanted mexican food, well, I'd do this:
I'd make seitan tacos al pastor. Spicy, chile-marinated seitan topped with red onion, sliced pineapple, cucumber and salsa verde. Very easy, and very good.
The thing about tacos, is that you can stuff them with anything you like and leave out anything you don't. Now go make some tacos.
*For gluten-free variation, I suggest doing this with tempeh crumbles. That could rock the house, actually, GF or not.
1 cutlet seitan
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup chopped pineapple
2 chipotle peppers, chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 cup pineapple juice
2 tomatillos diced fine, or 2 tablespoons tomatillo salsa
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
sliced onion
cucumbers, cut into matchsticks, both optional, for garnish
4-6 small round corn tortillas
Heat olive oil in large heavy skillet. Cut seitan into small, bite-sized pieces and sautee in pan until browned and crispy on most sides. Remove from pan.
Sautee onion until lightly brown and soft. Add garlic and chipotle and sautee 1-2 minutes more. Add tomatillos and cook for 1-2 more mintutes. Then stir in pineapple juice and turn off heat. Taste and sprinkle with salt and pepper if you like.
Warm tortillas in steamer basket, oven, microwave, whathaveyou, for about 1 minute. To assemble tacos, spoon some seitan into the middle of tortilla. Then sprinkle with 1-2 tablespoons chopped pineapple, a few slices of red onion, cucumbers, and cilantro. Some guac never hurt anyone either.
