Taco II (Vegetarian)

Delicious Tacos, simple, vegetarian and yummy! I didn't load up on the toppings because this is the recipe the lovely lady at the Latin Market has instructed me with.

I took some liberties and made a "red rice" using a long grain rice, tomato paste, green pepper and corn.

Rice

1 1/2 cups long grain rice, rinsed until the water runs clear and drained 

2 tbsp oil - Olive oil is a good healthy choice

1 tsp butter or ghee (optional)

1/3 cup chopped green bell pepper

1 tbsp tomato paste or 2 tbsp precooked tomato based sauce - like a pizza sauce

1 tsp salt

1/4 cup frozen corn (optional)

2 cups hot boiled water

Heat the oil in a pot and once it's sizzling add your drained rice, fry it around until all the grains are coated with oil.  Add your tomato paste too at this point to cook off the raw flavour. If you're using pizza sauce add it later after the liquid. 

Add your green pepper, liquid, salt and corn, let it all come to a boil. Add the butter if desired and cover. Simmer to the lowest setting for 20 minutes.

Black beans: 

It's always nice to cook your beans from scratch, and it's super simple. Start the night before by washing the dry beans in a large bowl just to remove any dirt, if there are any stones or foreign objects among the beans be mindful to remove them.

Cover with plenty of water and let them soak overnight. 

The next day add the beans and half the soaking water to a pot, cover with plenty of fresh water and bring to a boil. Simmer until almost tender then season the water with salt and cook until beans are tender and creamy but not falling apart.

Cool the beans in their boiling liquid and then store in the fridge in the liquid for a couple of days or drain from liquid and freeze in a ziplock bag until ready to use. It's very convenient to have on hand when you can add handfuls to different recipes.

Taco:

To assemble tacos simply heat your corn tortilla for a couple of seconds in a dry pan set to medium high heat.
Top with rice, black beans and your authentic Salsa (I picked up one from a latin market, there are many varieties to choose from but I opted for more of the smokey ones)

Top with chopped red onion and more corn, and serve with lime and cilantro.
Delicious! 

The Taco Stand

This taco bar was so fun to put together!! It's super easy to do and you can scale it for as many people as needed. 

I've been wanting to do this for such a long time and after discovering the coolest latin shop inside the St.Lawrence Market in Toronto things just fell into place. I can't tell you the names of the sauces and whats in them but all I can say is that they are so good! And this market has them stocked.

Check them out on yelp for details and photos, since I did not capture any of the shop

I don't have to tell you about their wide array of homemade corn tortillas either, as they speak for themselves! They're great having in the fridge and all you have to do is warm them in a dry pan for a couple of seconds on both sides to soften. 

Another recipe I plan to make is using a rice and black bean filling them topping it all with one of the yummy smokey red sauces, this recipe was mentioned to me by the lovely shop keeper at the market. 

Some of the items to include in a fun taco bar, that is both adult and kid friendly are: A meat as your basic taco filling, or a cooked spiced bean filling as a vegetarian and vegan option!  I had some grilled beef tenderloin from a couple of days earlier so I just sliced it up into thinner strips.

Have a good amount of toppings on hand like: Black beans - always freshly soaked and home boiled is tastier but you could opt for the low sodium canned variety.

Guacamole or slices of avocado, be sure to squeeze a generous amount of lime juice over slices to avoid them from turning brown

If you want to avoid serving up the onions separately go with a pico de gallo which is a fresh tomato salsa of chopped tomatoes, onions and chilis, add cilantro and a squeeze of lime to bring it together.  You're getting big flavour and it's all inclusive.

Salsa/Sauces, definitely try to get your hands on some authentic Mexican ones. I have a red smokey sauce here and a salsa verde, which is a green sauce made of tomatillos

Then add corn, lime wedges, sour cream, fresh cilantro... and enjoy!