Mushroom & Red Pepper Tacos w Salsa Verde

Tomatillos - Vegetable #6 for New Year Resolution #2 - Take 2!! The last time I made Roasted Tomatillo Zucchini and really liked it. I had 3 tomatillos left behind and wanted to use them before they went bad. It was interesting that a google search brings up hundreds of recipes for Salsa Verde. So I decided to try it out today.

Mushroom & Red Pepper Tacos w Salsa Verde

Prep Time: 20 minutes overall.

Ingredients: 

1. 3 medium tomatillos, husks removed, halved
2. 1 small red onion, quartered.
3. 1/3 cup fresh cilantro leaves
4. 1 small fresh jalapeno (optional)
5. 2-3 tbsp lemon/lime juice
6. 1 large red bell pepper, diced or sliced
7. 2 Portabella mushrooms, diced or sliced
8. 1 medium tomato, diced
9. 1/2 cup greens (baby spinach, spring mix or romaine!)
10. 1 tbsp soy sauce
11. 1 tsp cumin powder
12. 1-2 tbsp taco seasoning, to taste.
13. 1/2 cup vegetable broth
14. 2 tbsp (heaping) Nutritional Yeast
15. Soft shell tacos (flour or corn).  
16. Salt and pepper to taste. 

Directions:

Place tomatillos, cut face down, red onion and a whole jalapeno in a baking dish and broil on HI for 5-7 minutes. Remove from the oven, and a couple of ice cubes, let stand for a couple of minutes. Then mix in the cilantro leaves, lemon/lime juice, jalapeno pepper and salt to taste and transfer to a food processor, blend until smooth. Add more salt, or lemon/lime juice to taste. 

While the tomatillos and onions are broiling, dice bell pepper and mushrooms. In a skillet on medium heat, bring vegetable broth to a boil and add cumin, taco seasoning and soy sauce and mix in veggies. Mix well and cook down until almost dry. Transfer to a bowl and add nutritional yeast. Assemble tacos - layer greens on the tortilla, add peppers and mushrooms, sprinkle fresh tomatoes and top off with salsa verde. 

My Assessment: Something was missing. I could not tell 100% what was off about this dish today but it seemed like I was missing some vital ingredient. I'll have to try it a few more times until I get it just right. This was my first time using nutritional yeast. I had no idea what it was until I read about it in a blog post by Lindsay Nixon (www.happyherbivore.com). I'd read that it was similar in taste to cheese and could not agree more. It is an excellent source of Vitamin B12 which is probably the only vitamin not available in a plant-based diet.  I plan on using it on a regular basis. 

Braised Fennel w Red Onions & Sweet Peppers

Braised Fennel with Red Onions and Sweet Peppers

Vegetable #7 for New Year Resolution #2 - Fennel Bulbs. 

Prep Time: 30 min

Ingredients:

1. 2 medium sized Fennel bulbs, in eighths. 
2. 2 small red onions, quartered.  
3. 6-8 spring/green onions, finely diced.
4. 1 large Sweet (red) pepper, sliced vertically or diced finely.
5. 1 tsp minced garlic.
6. 1 tbsp Olive oil
7. 1 cup vegetable broth
8. 1-2 tsp fennel seeds (optional)
9. freshly ground black pepper, to taste
10. sea salt, to taste.

Directions:

Remove fronds from the fennel, trim root, wash well and cut each bulb into eighths. Save some of the fronds for the garnish and make sure the root is left intact in each eighth. This will keep the leaves from falling apart. Keep the root intact for the red onion too. I used a cast iron skillet for this recipe to get the most out of the braising technique. Heat oil to medium high and when the oil is just beginning to smoke, add the red onion and fennel. Allow a few minutes for the quarters to sear on their first side. Then turn over each piece over to allow the other side to sear as well. Once the onion and fennel are looking nicely browned, add the diced spring onions and red pepper. These need a much shorter time to get the same browning as the tougher fennel. After a couple of minutes mix in  garlic and vegetable broth. Given the heat in the skillet, it should begin to boil almost immediately. Reduce heat, add freshly ground black pepper and cover. Simmer for about 20 minutes until a knife glides through the fennel. Transfer to a serving dish, sprinkle with sea salt and garnish with a couple saved fronds of fennel. 

Nik's Reaction: None! He wasn't in the mood to eat anything but his crescent roll for dinner.

My Assessment: Although I enjoyed the flavors, I wasn't super impressed by fennel. At least in this concoction, it tasted a lot like onion to me. Maybe a tad sweeter. Also, I didn't have any fennel seeds at home today, so maybe the flavors were milder than they should have been. I think fennel would be great in recipes which use celery. I'm going to have to try that.