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.