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Check out the full recipe at: http://theheartysoul.com/vegetarian-taco-recipe?utm_source=THS-YOUTUBE&utm_content=44200-5854
Learn how to make these delicious tacos...from portobello mushrooms! Our amazing chef Talia Chai is here to help you learn how.
Do you get as excited about Taco Tuesdays (and Wednesdays and Thursdays and Fridays, you can see where we’re going with this) as us? Whether you need appetizers or a main dish, tacos are almost always a hit among family and friends, and can be a great vegetarian meal option.
These tacos use portobello mushrooms to make vegetarian tacos… hearty, easy, and absolutely delicious!
Why Use Portobello Mushrooms?
Portobello mushrooms belong to the cremini family which may seem strange if you do a size comparison. This is because smaller cremini mushrooms are harvested younger. Mushroom farmers allow their portobellos to grow more than four inches in diameter before they send them off for our mushroom taco dinners!
If you’re searching for a healthy and less heavy option, these mushrooms are the way to go. One of these things is not like the other, but portobellos do measure up! Many restaurants even use the “meaty” alternative in place of meat burgers on their menus.
Ingredients:
olive oil
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground chili powder
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
Hey guys, I'm Talia Chai and I'm a registered holistic nutritionist and I'm here today
0:05
with the Hardy Soul showing you how to make portobello tacos. That means we're going to use these mushrooms instead of the tortilla that normally comes
0:16
at the base of your tacos and the reason why I'm going to use these is because they're gluten-free
0:22
they're a great low-carb option and they're really delicious. So stay tuned, let's get started
0:30
First things first, we're gonna tackle the mushrooms. So I have preheated my oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit
0:39
and I have a baking sheet, which I've lined with parchment paper
0:43
I've already done these two, but I'll show you what I'm doing here. Have you ever washed mushrooms before
0:48
Because I'm gonna show you the proper way to do it. You don't wanna submerge in them water
0:53
because if you do, they're gonna absorb like a sponge, all of the water you're putting them in
0:58
and they're gonna waterlogged and grow it. gross. So take a clean paper towel and wet it with a little bit of water so it's damp and then I'm
1:06
just going to brush off any excess dirt or anything that could be sticking to the mushroom. It's
1:14
okay if they're still a little dirty, but just brushing off anything excess so they don't get water
1:21
logged and they don't get saturated and become flavorless. That's done. Next, what I'm going to do is
1:28
I'm going to take a spoon and see these gills. They're these little gills
1:33
They look like fish gills, actually, in the mushroom, in this kind of membrane area
1:39
Once again, those are going to make them watery, and they're going to cook differently
1:42
and I want to remove them. So I'm going to just take a spoon, and I'm just going to scrape out the gills gently
1:51
because you want to keep the mushroom intact, like so, and remove those gills
1:58
and we can discard them. We don't need them. What's good about this also is it's going to make
2:03
more room in the mushrooms for all the filling of the tacos that we're going to pile them up with
2:11
So once that's clean, you're going to take it, place it down on your baking sheet like this
2:19
And I'll show you with this one too, this clean one. So I'm going to go a step further
2:23
to show you to remove the stem and you can discard the stem. And you can discard the stem and
2:28
take the spoon, remove the gills. This is a good one actually
2:33
Some of your portabellas will be better than others, but no need to judge, they'll all taste the same
2:39
But this is nice and big and has a deep crevice in it
2:44
so it's a good cup for the tacos. Take that, place it on the baking sheet
2:50
Next, get this out of the way. I'm just gonna take some olive oil
2:57
and I'm going to drizzle it on each mushroom. And then I'm gonna take some gluten-free tamari
3:09
So this is organic gluten-free tamari. So once again, if you're a celiac or you're just trying
3:15
to avoid gluten, be aware of soy sauce because soy sauce has wheat in it
3:21
And tamari is basically a wheat-free version of soy sauce, same flavor
3:26
and I'm going to take my hands and massage the olive oil and the tamari into each mushroom
3:36
And the tamari is going to provide a really nice salty flavor to the mushrooms
3:43
And it's just amazing how much the mushrooms absorb anything you put on them
3:48
Then flip them over like this. And we're going to do the same thing
3:54
Little drizzle of olive oil and like we don't need to be perfect about it. This isn't a measurement. It's just enough to coat
4:01
That's when you start really feeling like a chef in the kitchen because you're like I'm just gonna free
4:07
Free-for-all it and just see how it goes. Little drizzle of tamari
4:12
Once again, I'm gonna use my fingers and I'm gonna massage it on both sides because we want to infuse this mushroom, which is our taco base with as much
4:20
flavor as possible on both sides, not just one, and I'm kind of like wiping it down in the bottom
4:27
to pick up the sauce and then just using my fingers to massage it. Last one. Okay, so you can see they're
4:37
really nicely coated. I'm going to place them gill side down in the baking sheet and then
4:45
these are going to go in the oven for 20 minutes. Check on them but I'd say like 20
4:50
25 minutes. All right. In the oven they go. Okay, so while those are cooking, it gives us a chance to make
5:03
the filling and I have a cast iron enamel coated pan. Any kind of cast iron is great. I love
5:11
using it because it's naturally non-stick. This is heating over medium heat and I'm going to
5:16
take some olive oil, drizzle it in the bottom. And I have some sliced thinly sliced red onion which I going to add That the sizzle you want to hear by the way
5:33
That's going in. And this is going to make a delicious, meaty-flavored taco filling without the meat
5:43
This is purely vegetarian and purely vegan, actually. So good for most people
5:52
We're gonna let these onions cook down and saute. I lowered the heat just a little bit because you just never know
6:01
You don't want it to burn. And here I have a gorgeous, gorgeous spice mix of four different spices
6:09
So I have ground cumin. I have smoked paprika. I have ground chili powder
6:18
And then I also have... What's the last one? one that I have. Chipotle. I have ground chapolte. So the reason why I like using smoked paprika
6:29
and Chipotle is because they're both smoky flavored. Smoked paprika, obviously is smoked paprika
6:36
Chipotle is a spicy chili powder that they've smoked the chilies and then ground it into a paste
6:43
So it's going to add that's where we're really going to get the spicy flavor. So know when you're
6:47
using Chipotle, if you don't like spicy, omit it completely. If you do like spicy, play around according to taste
6:56
I've used about an eighth of a teaspoon. I like to add my spices when I'm sauteing my onions in the oil
7:05
because it gives the spices a chance to bloom in the oil
7:09
and all of those flavors to really come alive before I add the rest of the ingredients
7:15
So I'm gonna cook down the onions with the spices and the olive oil for about five to 10 minutes
7:21
You'll see they're gonna start to get really soft and they're going to start to get a little golden brown. That's when you
7:28
know they're done, but in general, I'd say five to ten minutes is a safe time span depending
7:35
on your stove top. Make sure they're all coated in the spices. And then the easy part is
7:45
that you just kind of let them sit and do their thing, stirring occasionally. This is a low-maintenance
7:51
meal. Just a little health tidbit about onions. Onions actually fall into the prebiotic category of foods
8:04
So the starch and carbohydrate in onions is called a fructo-eligo saccharide. Kind of a fancy name
8:12
Basically, prebiotic would be another way of saying that. And the reason why prebiotics are good for
8:18
us are because prebiotics are the food for probiotics in our body. So in our gut and our large
8:26
intestine lives most of like a huge number of the probiotics in our body. And those probiotics
8:33
those healthy bacteria need food in order to thrive and stay alive. And we want the probiotics
8:39
in our gut to thrive and stay alive. So what's one way to ensure that they're healthy and
8:44
thriving is to feed them the food that they love, which are prebiotics. And so onions and garlic
8:52
asparagus, Jerusalem artichokes, these all fall into probiotics food. So if you're trying to eat
8:58
gut-friendly food or you're trying to focus on ingredients that will support the microflora and the gut
9:07
in your body and in your intestines, then definitely onions and garlic are a good addition to whatever
9:13
you're eating. So you'll see now that the onions have taken on kind of a caramelized, golden
9:22
soft texture and color, which is perfect. Now I'm going to add a pinch of sea salts. This is gray
9:33
Celtic sea salts. Use whichever salt you like. Some black beans. I used canned black
9:40
beans for these ones because let's be honest it's just way easier I like using BPA
9:45
free canned black beans or can't any beans for that matter so the winding of the cans
9:52
doesn't have BPA and some organic corn kernels so these corn kernels were frozen I
10:00
bought them frozen and they were organic because corn's not in season in the winter
10:05
but if it's spring or summer you should be able to find organic corn but if you can't
10:09
find organic fresh corn then definitely check the frozen section because it will most likely
10:15
be there and the reason why we definitely want organic corn is because it's not genetically modified
10:20
which means that the pesticide levels the herbicide levels in that corn will be drastically lower
10:27
and it will be a much much healthier food whenever i buy things that are very genetically modified
10:33
like corn or tofu soy products um i always recommend going organic
10:39
So I'm gonna let this saute and come together. And now at this point like the beans are already pre the corn is already pre We just letting everything heat up and letting all the flavors of the spices come together
11:00
So I'm going to let this saute for, I'd say, another five to ten minutes
11:07
All right. This is done. I've turned off the heat and I'm just going to transfer this to the side to cool
11:17
That'll just sit there and chill and do it. thing. The mushrooms are still going and you'll see here that I've kind of cleared the decks a little and
11:24
rearranged to set up for our second dish or our third dish, which is the pico de gallo. If you've never
11:32
heard of a pico de gallo before, it's basically a fresh salsa, like a salsa fresca, and what it means
11:38
is that it's raw. So normally a traditional salsa is cooked and heated up and maybe blended
11:43
This is all hand chopped and it's all raw. Oh, got the burner
11:49
I'm gonna unplug this. Perfect. So this is raw and it's quick and it's easy
11:56
That's what makes it amazing. What's nice is that it's full of fresh flavors as well
12:01
which you're gonna see where it goes in, but it's super easy. So in this bowl, I have two vine-ripe tomatoes
12:08
that I have diced up. And over here, I have a few
12:12
Over here I have some sliced scallion, thinly sliced, green onion, scallion
12:18
whatever you want to call it. And I'm gonna add this to the chopped tomato
12:25
Gonna add a little pinch of salt. And then the ingredient that's probably the most important
12:32
is a fresh lime. So I have a microplane here. And a microplane is just a very, very, very fine grater, essentially
12:41
And it's really good if you, want to do zest or if you want a great like nutmeg or really fine things so I'm just
12:48
gonna get some zest off of this lime like so I love microplanes they are so
12:58
essential in the kitchen I think it's probably my most used kitchen tool believe it
13:04
or not so I have my lime zest here the zest from one lime going in oh yeah and that
13:12
And I'm gonna take my lime and I like to roll it down like this
13:16
to soften everything inside, which makes it easier to get the juice out
13:21
And I'm gonna do the juice of, you know, half to one lime
13:27
on top depending on what you like or how juicier limes are
13:31
Some limes are really dry. I don't know if you've ever noticed that, but it's just the worst when you get a dry lime, you know
13:38
Okay, so this is going on and the lime juice is gonna give it this beautiful
13:42
fresh, acidic flavor and the acidity of this pico de gallo will go really nicely with a very
13:50
savory, spicy flavor of the filling. You always want to balance out your flavors when you're
13:57
cooking. So this is just going to be a really nice raw accent to the very cooked taco. And it's
14:04
just going to basically burst in your mouth. Okay, so I'm just going to squeeze this in
14:12
and take my spoon, mix it all together like so. And then, last but not least, the real flavor element, cilantro
14:31
Now, cilantro is a very detoxifying herb and very, very potent. And you know, you're probably thinking right now
14:42
Ooh, I love cilantro or oh, I hate cilantro. I find cilantro is very polarizing and it's a love, hate herb
14:52
but it's very appropriate when you're making tacos and try to learn to love it because it's really good for you
14:59
and it just makes everything really delicious. Now, I like to snip herbs with scissors
15:05
because herbs bruise really easily and unless you have like a super, super, super, super, super, super sharp knife
15:12
It's just easier to use some nice sharp scissors and cut it in perfectly and it keeps them nice and attacked and not bruised at all
15:19
And it also is just kind of fun and you kind of feel like you're doing arts and crafts while you're cooking
15:25
And just a side note you can see how I've stored this cilantro here
15:30
So I actually have it in this glass jar But you can use any type of container and I filled it up with water and I've put the bunch of cilantro in the water almost like flowers in a vase and
15:42
And what I'll do is I'll store them like this and put a little thin plastic bag on top and tie it for freshness and then pop them in the fridge
15:49
And that will preserve the life of your herbs like times three or four
15:55
So that's a really good trick to keeping your herbs fresh. So I think that's a good amount of cilantro
16:02
Get the cilantro in and now we mix again and look at all the colors, the reds and the greens and
16:11
It's gonna have a lot of punch and it's gonna be really good on our tacos
16:16
Okay so mixing that up and then of course gotta do a little taste Mmm very good A little more lime and a little more salt
16:32
When I doubt a little more salt is the philosophy I like
16:39
Okay, done. Pico de Gaio, ready to go. Let's take our portobellos out of the oven and put it all together
16:50
All right. My portabelle mushrooms are ready to go. And now comes the fun part, which is the assembly part
16:57
So first off, I have the taco filling right over here in all its glory
17:02
And I'm going to take a quarter cup measuring cup, which I've decided is the perfect amount for these tacos
17:07
And it's going to be heaping and overflowing, but that's how we want them to be, because these are going to be filling
17:13
So I'm going to fill up a quarter cup measuring cup here
17:17
Look at how good that looks, by the way. And I'm just going to top it right on top of the taco
17:24
If a little bit spills out, that's okay. That's how it goes. This is not perfectly clean
17:30
It's like get in there. Get dirty a little, you know? Okay, so filling this up, putting that on top
17:39
Beautiful. This is rustic and I like it. Alright, number three. Ooh, that one's really small
17:51
Your portobello mushrooms will vary in size so you can adjust accordingly but this one happens
17:57
to be really small so I'm not gonna go crazy. There we go
18:04
Alright, now that I have the taco filling on the mushrooms, I'm gonna transfer them to the plate
18:10
and then we're gonna garnish. So I have this plate ready to go with some fancy little lime wedges, slide this over and transferring
18:22
The reason why I'm transferring these now is because if I top them with everything and then try to put them on the plate, it could get really messy
18:30
So I'd rather do it on the plate and not have to move them around too much if you know what I mean
18:35
But guys, these look amazing and I hope you're excited. Gorgeous. Okay, tacos on the plate ready to go
18:46
Let's talk about our toppings. We have the pico de gall, which I just made
18:51
And then I just took one avocado, mashed it up in a bowl, and added a squeeze of lime juice
18:59
A little easy guacamole, if you will. And then, and now vegans, avoid this step
19:06
I have some very optional plain Greek yogurt here. And if you're the kind of person who normally like sour cream and creamy cheesy things on your tacos and you're good with dairy
19:17
You're not avoiding dairy go ahead and throw a dollop of Greek yogurt on top if you're avoiding dairy or you're a vegan
19:25
Avoid that step. It's completely optional so pico de gallo Get that on top
19:36
And this is gonna fall but that's okay And just do a nice little spoonful on each taco, all the herbs, the tomatoes, the zest and
19:48
the juice of the lime. It's really going to take the flavor of the taco to an entirely different level
19:54
You'll see. It's for real. And look at the color, right? Because there's a lot of brown going on below it
20:02
So we want the pop of bright colors. Colorful foods mean healthy foods
20:07
Then of course the guacamole, you're not gonna want to skimp on this
20:13
Nice dollop of guac. Alright. Alright
20:22
Oh yes. The creaminess that this is gonna add and the fatiness, which if you're not using dairy
20:28
from the Greek yogurt, then this would be a great way to add some of that fatteness to what
20:34
you're eating and lots of flavor. And then this one gets a little bit more, yes
20:40
I mean, isn't this looking so good already? Are you getting a bit hungry
20:44
Because I actually am. They smell so good. And then for the non-vecans, a little bit of organic, I should specify whenever you're getting
20:52
dairy, go for organic. Greek yogurt. We're going to do two with the Greek yogurt, two without
21:02
That's one. And... That's one. Oh mama. And then I'm gonna take some cilantro leaves if you want to get super fancy and just put them
21:19
on top. Like so. I have my lime wedges on the side so you can squeeze some lime on each individual one and
21:30
these are ready to go. Don't forget to leave a comment below and let us know how you like this recipe and also
21:36
share with anyone in your life who loves delicious food as much as you do
21:41
That's all for now. Stay tuned for more recipes and our next episode
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