California Vegan Tacos, Sweet Potato Fritters and more

California Vegan Tacos (Cauliflower & Walnut)

My Louisiana chef friend Susanne DuPlantis went to a foodie event out in California recently, where one of the items available for tasting were these strange tacos from the California Walnut Board. She says it only took two martinis (or was it three? Four?) for her to get nerved up to taste these, but she found them delicious!

Well, the concept seemed sound, and I'm always looking for new vegetarian/vegan dishes to try;. but the original recipe called for you to make this complex and time consuming “Mexican” flavored sauce. It also called for 25-30 minutes of roasting the cauliflower.

You know me, I couldn't leave the recipe alone! Here's my version. Pretty darn tasty if I do say so myself. And not nearly as time consuming or finicky as the original recipe.

Filling:

1/2 Head Cauliflower, small, chopped

1/2 cup Walnut pieces, chopped

4 Tbsp Olive oil, divided

1 Packet of Taco Seasoning mix*

1/2 cup diced Onion

*A can of Ro*Teltm or a cup of your favorite salsa could also be used to flavor the filling mix.

Fixings:

6 or 8 Corn or Flour Tortillas, warmed

Shredded Cabbage or Lettuce

Cotija cheese, crumbled (any mild white, meltable cheese will work)

Lime Wedges, for squeezing on tacos

Cilantro, black olives, diced Green Chiles or other things you like on your tacos

Disassemble the cauliflower, slicing into flat-ish pieces. Toss cauliflower with a tablespoon or so of olive oil and dust with Chili Powder. Place on a baking sheet and roast for 25 to 30 minutes or broil for 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to a food processor.

Toss the walnuts with oil and broil them separately for 5 minutes or until lightly browned. Add to the food processor. Pulse a couple times to give it the consistency and texture of cooked/crumbled ground beef.

Heat a couple of Tbsp of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sauté the onion for 5 minutes or until lightly browned. Stir in the cauliflower mixture and the Taco Seasoning. Stir to combine, and cook to warm through.

Spoon the mixture into warmed tortillas, top with your favorite ingredients, and enjoy!

Sweet Potato Fritters

Our friend Fiona Barnes, from England, pointed out this Bobby Flay recipe to me. His version made brunch sandwiches with ham and poached eggs. Not being fond of runny eggs in any form, I'm using these “fritters” as a dinner side dish; but I'll bet they would make a great breakfast hash drizzled with a bit of maple or cane syrup.

1 large Sweet Potato, peeled and coarsely grated
2 large Eggs, lightly beaten

1/8 cup finely grated Onion
1 Tbsp AP Flour
2 Green Onions, thinly sliced
Unsalted Butter, for frying
Canola Oil, for frying
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Combine 4 cups cold water and 1 tablespoon kosher salt in a large bowl and stir until the salt dissolves. Stir in the sweet potato and let sit for 15 minutes. Drain, then dump onto a large piece of cheesecloth (or tea towel) and wring out as much water as possible.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Whisk together the eggs, onion and some pepper in a large bowl. Add the sweet potato and flour, and mix until combined. Fold in the green onions.

Heat 2 tablespoons each of butter and oil until shimmering in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Using a scant 1/4 cup per pancake, add the sweet potato mixture to the pan, leaving some space in between. Flatten slightly and cook until golden brown on both sides, about 3 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels.

Transfer the fritters to a baking sheet and place in the oven for 5 minutes to finish cooking.

Fritters as the side dish for Lemon Marmalade Mahi Mahi

I'd rate this recipe as Finicky – it's certainly tasty enough, but forming and frying all those fritters is a time consuming pain, and then there's the five minutes in an oven that takes 10 minutes to heat up! That's OK if you're Bobby Flay, I guess and can afford to heat up your kitchen. 

 Next time I make this dish, I'll treat it like a hash – fry the whole batch up on my big griddle!

Leftover Ragout

That's pronounced “rah-goo”, which is a fancy French word for a highly seasoned dish of finely chopped meats and/or vegetables; a “stew” if you will,  often served with a starchy side dish like bread or rolls.

Last week I had leftover California Taco filling, some Italian 'meat sauce' from making Spaghetti Squash, and some Pinto beans from an Anglo-American breakfast in the Cabana. To that I added some Chili Powder and a pinch of Hot Hungarian Paprika, and served it with crusty French bread.

This is a dish that Susanne “MakeOverMyLeftover” Duplantis would be proud of!

Upside Down Syrup

Quit messing around with canned pineapple and wimpy yellow cake mix and make something that will really WOW your family and friends! Almost any soft fruit and cake combination can be turned into a beautiful and tasty Upside Down Cake.

We particularly like Mango and Starfruit upside down with Gingerbread or Spice cake mix, but the sky's the limit as they say. Think of Chocolate and Strawberries, Peaches and Gingerbread, Blackberries and Lemon cake, etc.  This would even work if you cooked a batch of Cinnamon Apple slices and paired it with Spice cake; or better yet an Apple Cake mix.

All you need is fruit, a cake mix, 1 cup of Brown Sugar and 1/4 cup of Butter.

Spray an appropriate cake pan with non-stick spray I like Baker's Choice tm.

In a microwave safe cup or small bowl, melt together the butter and sugar, stirring well. Make the cake mix to package instructions. Wash and slice enough fruit to cover the bottom of your cake pan.

Pour the sugar syrup into the pan; arrange the fruit on top of the syrup. Gently add the cake batter on top of the fruit and sugar mix. Bake according to package directions, until a probe come out clean. Cool the cake 10 minutes; then run a knife around the edge and invert onto a serving plate to reveal the hidden fruit. Don't wait too long, or the sugar syrup will harden and the cake will be impossible to invert!

Carambola, aka Starfruit pairs nicely with Gingerbread cake mix