CauliFlower-Bean Tacos with Homemade Tortilla's

I often have weird dreams with creative ideas - usually about housing floor plans, organization or some nerdy engineering stuff. When I have these dreams, I wake up and make notes somehow; by either sketching or putting it in my phone as a calendar reminder at some random future date. Well, a few months ago, I had a dream that I used Cauliflower as taco 'meat' (weird, I know!) and took note of this in my phone. Yesterday, on my drive home from the gym, this reminder popped up on my phone. Oddly enough, I had JUST bought a head of Cauliflower the day before... meant to be?! Maybe!

I did a little research to see if others had attempted a similar idea and the answer was... YES! I reviewed a couple food blogs to see how they moistened the cauli and make it more meat-like... I figured tomato paste or a vegetable puree or some sort, but turns out BEANS make the best additive. Time to experiment!

I was in luck, I had some dried black beans in the cupboard, but I needed to give those a quick boil and let them soak for an hour or so. As the beans were soaking, I prepared the tortilla dough and prepped the spices. Most of the tortilla recipes use lard, but I don't have any nor do I want to cook with it; so, I found a yummy recipe from The Hippy Homemaker. I pulled the taco seasoning from All-Recipes, using the original 1 ounce serving size. The rest is up to experimentation... Let's Cook :)


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Cauli-Bean Tacos
Prep Time: 75 mins |  Cook Time: 10 mins  |  Ready In: 90 mins
Makes 8-10 Small Tacos

Cauli-Bean Taco 'Meat':
1/2 Head Cauliflower
8 oz Dried Black Beans
1/3 Onion (chopped)
2 Tbsp Ketsup
Taco Seasoning Mix (see below)
Olive Oil

Taco Seasoning  (Recipe from All-Recipes):
1 tbsp chili powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp paprika
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp black pepper

Tortillas  (Recipe from The Hippy Homemaker):
3 cups unbleached flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup canola oil
1 cup hot water

Toppings:
Shredded Kale (or Lettuce)
Shredded Cheese
Sliced Roma Tomato
Slided Avocado
Spicy Sauce (mix mayo or sour cream with Cholula hot sauce)



1.Boil and soak the black beans as directed on the package. Soaking time will be 60-90 minutes and will allow for time to prepare the rest of the meal. While the beans are soaking, finish preparing the other ingredients.

2. Prepare the tortilla dough and let rest, as directed.

3. Prepare the Taco Seasoning as directed and set aside in a small bowl. 

4. In a food processor, chop the cauliflower into small crumbles and set aside.

5. When the beans are ready, add to a food processor and blend until smooth. I had to add a little hot water to create a smoother texture. Scoop into a bowl and set aside.

6. In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cauliflower to the skillet and cook for 5 minutes.
(while this was cooking, I rolled and cooked a few tortilla's, as directed).

7. Reduce the heat to low and add the Taco Seasoning Mix and ketchup (I don't measure, I just squirt a few lines across the top of the cauli and onion mixture). Mix together and continue cooking over low heat for a few minutes.

8. Add the bean puree to the mixture in small amounts until desired consistency is reached (I only used about 2/3 of my puree batch). Continue mixing over low heat for another minute.

9. Serve warm over Homemade Tortillas. Add toppings and enjoy :)

 

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