Spicy pumpkin tacos

 

An autumnal weekend has started. Yesterday it was quite rainy, and it could rain today too, but the morning was sunny. I’m looking forward to an opening of a new vegetable shop today, where we will stop by. Then we will probably attend an event with British beers in one local bar, wearing masks of course.

I bought plenty of pumpkins and squashes already and will get more, so I’ve tried to cook different kinds of dishes with them. These spicy pumpkin tacos are one of them. I didn’t use an actual pumpkin in this recipe, but a beautiful pale green skinned crown prince squash. You can use any squash or pumpkin you have. The tacos are fully vegan, spicy and the contrast with the spicy sauce and sweet roasted squash is nice. I also served some of the quirky finger limes with this dish. If you want to try them, here comes the recipe.

 

Spicy pumpkin tacos

Ingredients

¼ crown prince squash

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 onion

3 garlic cloves

1 red chilli

230 g butterbeans

4-6 tbsp tomato purée

Smoked paprika to taste

Ground cumin to taste

Ground coriander to taste

Salt to taste

1 tbsp soy sauce

8 tortilla taco wraps

Fresh coriander leaves

Finger limes

 

Method

Peel and chop the crown prince squash into small cubes. Roast the cubes brushed with oil in the oven.

Chop the onion, garlic and chilli and cook them in oil until soft.

Add the butterbeans, tomato purée and seasoning and let cook until the flavours have blended nicely. I like to crush the butterbeans a little bit so that they are smaller.

Heat some tortilla taco wraps and fill them with the butterbean mix and roasted pumpkin. Decorate with fresh coriander leaves and serve with lime. Enjoy!

 

Have a nice weekend!

Your VegHog

Tacos

It’s a beautiful morning here in Copenhagen. I’ve already done some balcony gardening and we will go to the market later, where I will maybe find some more plants. We are also waiting for a delivery of new balcony furniture. The delivery is very much delayed, but I hope that they’ll turn up soon. It would now be the weather for sitting outside.

I made these tacos with dried and rehydrated soya bits and sweetcorn in a spicy tomato sauce. As taco shells I used artisanal corn tortillas that are really good quality. I’ve used them a few times and they lift any dish. I also have this really spicy (in my opinion) chipotle mayo that I served with them. The tacos were quite a hit.

Veggie tacos are always so good for the weekend. What are your plans for this weekend food- and otherwise?

Your VegHog

Tacos nórdicos

I made tacos in Nordic summer style. This means that the main component were new potatoes, and I also used some new season peas and onions.

I liked this combination very much, with flavours bound together through fresh coriander and chilli mayo. I think that potato tacos exist as a concept, so perhaps I wasn't as adventurous here as I thought. However I will surely be making similar dishes in the future.

Ingredients

Taco shells
New potatoes
Fresh peas
Sweetcorn
Tomatoes
New onions with stalks
Olive oil
Fresh coriander
Chipotle mayo

Method

Boil the potatoes and cut them into smaller pieces.

Prepare the vegetables by cutting them into suitably sized cubes.

Heat some olive oil in a pan and quickly sautée the onions, potatoes and the rest of the vegetables in there.

Assemble the tacos and enjoy!

Have a good Sunday!

Your VegHog

Spicy summer tacos

So the time has come, I'm off to Copenhagen today. Goodbye my friends in Britain, I will miss you very much and wish you all the best! I will write to you from Copenhagen as soon as I can. Take care!

Just before I go, I want to share this lovely summer taco recipe with you, my last dish cooked in Britain. These are quite light and quick to make. You can make them either vegan or serve with cheese and chilli mayo, both versions are perfectly good.

Spicy tacos

Ingredients

3 romano peppers

300 g cherry tomatoes

Oilve oil

2 onions

1 fresh garlic bulb

1 small chilli

1 small can sweetcorn

1 cup dried broad bean bits

2 tsp smoked chilli paste

1 tsp sea salt

Grated Emmental cheese (optional)

Chilli mayo (optional)

Lime wedges

8 taco shells

Method

Cut the peppers into pieces, brush them with olive oil and roast. Also roast the tomatoes for a slightly shorter time.

Chop the onions, chilli and garlic and cook them in olive oil until soft. Add the sweetcorn and the cooked broad bean bits (these can be substituted by soya products or pulses) and finally the seasoning.

Also mix the roasted vegetables in and serve this mix in taco shells.

Enjoy!

The VegHog

Rice and bean tacos

Here is a Mexican inspired recipe for The VegHog's Cheap Eats Week 2017. Mexican style veggie dishes don't have to be expensive, as long as you keep a certain staple of spices in your kitchen. Then it's easy to get creative with the vegetables that you have available and create tasty and affordable dishes.

This frugal recipe is easy to customise depending what canned beans and fresh vegetables you have available to use. I combined here some black beans, sweetcorn, onions, cheese and rice. It was an excellent filling for soft tacos and so nutritious. These also make a great work lunch, you'll really look forward to your break even more, if these are waiting for you.

Rice and bean tacos

Ingredients

1 cup brown and red camargue rice mix

2 onions

4 garlic cloves

1 small chilli

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 large can black beans

1 small can sweetcorn

Ground cumin to taste

Ground coriander to taste

Smoked paprika to taste

Salt to taste

Ground black pepper to taste

1 tsp smoked chilli paste

150 g grated Cheddar

8 soft tortillas

Fresh cherry tomatoes (optional)

Lime (optional)

Method

Cook the rice separately until done.

Chop the onions, garlic and chilli finely and first start cooking the onion in the oil until soft and slightly browned. Then add the garlic and chilli.

After a while also add the beans and sweetcorn followed by the seasoning. Mix in also the cooked rice.

Let simmer and mix in the cheese just before filling the tortillas with the rice and bean mix.

Enjoy!

Your VegHog

Soft tacos with soya and bean filling

It's Saturday and finally there's time to cook properly and relax with a film or a series binge in the evening, as I don't have many plans for the weekend. I'm just happy to be at home right now. This sort of tacos with a spicy soya chuck, black bean and sweetcorn filling would be just right for tonight. They are easy to make and fun to eat. These ones are full of protein and veggie goodness. Have a look at my recipe!

Soft tacos with soya and bean filling

Ingredients

1 cup dried soya chunks

1 onion

3 garlic cloves

Olive oil

2 small bell peppers

240 g / 1 can black beans

140 g / 1 small can sweetcorn

5 tomatoes

Ground cumin to taste

Ground coriander to taste

Smoked paprika to taste

2 tsp smoked chilli sauce

1 tbsp tomato purée

Splash of liquid aminos

Splash of liquid smoke

8 soft taco shells

Grated cheese

Chilli mayo or ketchup

Method

Prepare the soya chunks as per the packet instructions.

Chop the onion, garlic, tomatoes and bell peppers.

Cook the onion and garlic in olive oil until soft, then add the peppers, beans, sweetcorn and tomatoes.

Season and let simmer under the lid until the flavours have blended nicely.

Add the soya chunks into the vegetables and simmer some more.

Serve the mix with soft taco shells, grated cheese and chilli mayo or ketchup.

Enjoy!

I'm sharing this recipe with Jacqueline from Tinned Tomatoes blog for Meat Free Mondays.

Have a nice weekend!

Your VegHog

Spicy soya chunk tacos with char-grilled peppers and bean rice

If I didn't manage to post this for Taco Tuesday, perhaps we can have a Taco Thursday? The week is almost over and I hope to have more time to write, post, comment and edit photos over the weekend. I don't have anything special planned, so maybe I'll actually manage.

Quickly back to the taco subject, before I have to go to bed. I normally always add cheese to tacos, but now for a change I wanted to make well seasoned vegan tacos. I chose chilli and smoke marinated soya as the main protein and added some rice with black beans to the mix. Then in order to add some colour and more smokiness, I char-grilled bell peppers to be added to the tacos.

Ingredients

1 cup dried soya pieces

1 tsp vegetable stock extract

1 cup red camargue and wild rice

1 onion

2 garlic cloves

Vegetable oil

1 can black beans

Salt

Ground cumin

Ground coriander

2 bell peppers

Fresh coriander

Taco shells

For the soya marinade:

1 tbsp smoked chilli paste

1 tbsp maple syrup

1 tsp liquid smoke

1 tsp vegetable stock extract

Method

Cook the dried soya pieces in water for a few minutes and add some vegetable stock extract to the cooking water. Then drain them. Prepare the marinade by mixing the ingredients and then mix it with the soya pieces. Cover and let marinade in the fridge for a couple of hours.

Chop the onion and garlic finely and start cooking the onion first in vegetable oil. After the onion is soft and browned, add the garlic and cook for a couple of more minutes. Then add the black beans to the pan. Cook the rice separately in water and once cooked, mix it into the bean mix. Season with salt, ground cumin and ground coriander.

Cut thin strings from the bell peppers and char-grill them on a grill pan until they have distinct grilling marks.

Put all the fillings into taco shells, season with fresh coriander and enjoy!

Your VegHog 

Tomato and rice tacos

I hope you are enjoying this week. The weather here in southern England is hot for the first time this summer. It's nice, but doesn't really encourage for cooking. I tried to make a fresher version of veggie tacos, which would be more suitable for a hotter weather.

I was inspired to cook this dish by a Tomato tacos with guacamole recipe from Mat Follas' vegetarian cookbook Vegetable Perfection (p. 56-57). I basically just took the idea of adding fresh tomato salsa into tacos, but also wanted to add a filling agent to them. I chose to add some warm spiced tomato rice to these tacos. They were quite great and I will certainly make them again.

Of course this is another recipe for my annual Tomato Festival, which is running this week. I am trying to show some variety in cooking veggie meals with tomatoes. Tacos are some of my all time favourites and it's nice to have them with fresh tomatoes in the summer.

Ingredients

For the rice

1 cup red camargue and wild rice

1 onion

1 green chilli

2 garlic cloves

Rapeseed oil

3 tomatoes

Vegetable stock powder

Ground cumin

Ground coriander

Smoked paprika

Salt

Ground black pepper

Smoked chilli paste

Juice of ½ lime

For the tomatoes

300 g selected tomatoes

Juice of 1 lime

Fresh coriander leaves

Salt

Other ingredients

12 crunchy taco shells

Cheese

Sour cream

Method

Cook the rice first in pilaf fashion. Chop the onion and garlic and cook them in oil until soft. Then add the tomatoes and add simmer for a while. Add the rice, seasoning and vegetable stock and cook until done and with nice spicy flavours.

Chop the tomatoes for the salsa and mix with lime juice, fresh coriander leaves and salt.

Assemble the tacos and serve them with cheese and sour cream and possibly some extra smoked chilli paste on the side.

Enjoy!

Your VegHog

Black bean and kale tacos

I've been so fond of Mexican food lately. I think I could have it every day, as there are so many wonderful veggie options and beans are really good for you. It's also very dangerous that my local pub makes a very good veggie burrito and it's huge. I really shouldn't be having that so often, as I almost can't walk home anymore afterwards, that's how big the portion is.

Now I decided to make slightly different tacos with soft taco shells, filled with black beans with smoked chilli flavours and kale as the additional green. These were really nice tacos and the top kale bits crisped a little bit in the oven, which I love. So here is my recipe.

Ingredients

1 onion

3 garlic cloves

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tin black beans

1 small tin sweetcorn

Ground coriander to taste

Ground cumin to taste

Smoked paprika to taste

Chilli flakes to taste

Smoked chilli paste to taste

1 lime's juice

2 tbsp tomato purée

160 g kale

8 soft taco shells

Grated cheddar

Red jalapenos

Sour cream

Fresh coriander

Method

Chop the onion and garlic finely and start cooking them in vegetable oil until the onion is slightly browned.

Add the black beans, sweetcorn and seasoning to the mix. Also add the lime's juice and tomato purée.

Steam the kale for a few minutes and add to the beans.

Fill the taco shells with the bean and kale mix.

Add some grated cheddar on the top and bake them in the oven for a few minutes until the cheese has melted and the taco shells are partly crispy.

Serve with red jalapenos, sour cream and fresh coriander and enjoy!

I'm sharing this recipe with Shaheen for this month's Eat Your Greens. 

Your VegHog

Tacos with roasted pattypan squash and soya mince chilli

I really love tacos with various vegetable fillings, so I made some again. I filled these taco shells with roasted pattypan squash, soya mince chilli and cheese. I also got the opportunity to taste my new smoky chilli paste with them, Gran Luchito, which was really good. That little jar is going to disappear in no time. 

Here is my taco recipe:

Ingredients

1 pattypan squash

Olive oil

1 large onion

4 cloves garlic

1 can black beans

400 g tomatoes

Ground cumin

Ground coriander

Chilli flakes

Smoked paprika

Cocoa powder

Tomato purée

Fresh coriander

100 g grated cheese

½ cup dried soya mince

12 taco shells

Method

Cut the pattypan squash into cubes, brush them with olive oil and roast in the oven until done with roasting marks.

Chop the onion, garlic and tomatoes. Cook the onion and garlic in olive oil until soft, add the black beans and ground cumin, ground coriander, chilli flakes and smoked paprika. Stir for a couple of minutes and then add the tomatoes. Let simmer under lid for about 30 minutes. Add the cocoa powder, tomato purée and a little bit of the grated cheese into the pot.

Cook the dried soya mince as instructed on the packet. Mine needs to be boiled in water for a couple of minutes and then it can be pan fried. Add the mince after the frying into the chilli.

Also add the roasted pattypan squash cubes into the chilli, or keep them separated, if preferred.

Put the mixture into the taco shells, add some cheese and fresh coriander on the top and bake in the oven until the cheese has melted.

Enjoy!

Your VegHog

Black bean and soya mince tacos with roasted peppers, cheese and tomato salsa

Earlier today I started craving for a little taco feast, suitable for a Saturday evening. I decided to go with a fairly classic choice of soya mince with black beans, roasted peppers and salsa. This dish is easy to veganise by leaving out the cheese. I enjoyed this taco dinner very much and will soon be making some again, it has been too long since I last made them.

Here's how I made my easy veggie tacos.

Ingredients

12 taco shells

Grated Cheddar

2 bell peppers + 1 tsp olive oil

Tomato salsa

200 g mini plum tomatoes

¼ onion

1 tsp olive oil

Juice of ½ lime

Salt and pepper to taste

Bean and mince mix

½ cup dried soya mince

1 onion

2 garlic cloves

1 tbsp olive oil

Smoked paprika to taste

Ground cumin to taste

Oregano to taste

Chilli flakes to taste

Salt to taste

Ground black pepper to taste

1 can black beans

Method

Start off by making the salsa, as it can rest in the fridge until serving. Chop the tomatoes and onions and mix together with the seasoning.

Chop the bell peppers into cubes, brush them with olive oil and roast in the oven.

Then continue to the bean and mince mix. Prepare the soya mince as recommended on the packet. Mine needed to be boiled in water for about 5 minutes. Chop the onion and garlic finely and cook them in olive oil until soft. Add the mince to the pan and after a while the seasoning and then the black beans. Let cook for a while.

Bake the taco shells in the oven for about 5 minutes with little grated cheese on the bottom of each shell.

Fill the shells with the bean and mince mix, roasted peppers and tomato salsa. Add more cheese, if you prefer.

Enjoy!

Your VegHog