Tacos con Hongos y Rajas

(Tacos with mushrooms and vegan rajas (i.e. "cheezy chili strips")

HONGOS:

- 4 large portabello mushrooms
- 2 tsp olive oil
-  1 tbsp vinegar (white wine, rice or apple vinegar if possible)
- 1/2 tsp salt & 1/2 tsp ground black pepper or to taste

1) Preheat oven to 400 F
2) Stem the mushrooms
3) Mix the other ingredients in a large bowl to make a vinaigrette
4) Toss the mushroom caps in the vinaigrette
5) Place the mushrooms in an oiled roasting pan, gill side up
6) Drizzle most of the remaining vinaigrette into the mushrooms
7) Roast for 10 - 12 minutes (You can begin assembling the rajas at this point.)
8) Flip mushrooms, coat caps with remaining vinaigrette
9) Roast for 15-20 minutes
10) When cool enough to handle, halve mushrooms & cut into strips

RAJAS

for the cheezy sauce:

- 1/2 c cashew cream
- juice of 1/2 lime
- ancho pepper powder or dried ancho puree to taste (should be more bitter than hot. If necessary, substitute ordinary chili powder)
- 2 tsp miso (I used brown rice miso)
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- unsweetened plant milk (I prefer Silk brand soy milk)

1) place all but plant milk in blender, and run on a high setting. Gradually add plant milk until smooth blending occurs

for the vegetables:

- 1 tsp olive oil
- 3/4 c diced raw onion (about 1/2 a typical fresh onion)
- 4 cloves garlic or to taste
- 1/2 c or more seeded, peeled mild peppers (preferably not canned, preferably Anaheim, 2nd best is poblano, in a pinch bell peppers or canned chopped Mexican style green chilis will do)
- pinch salt

1) Sautee a small amount of salted onion in the oil at medium high heat until it starts to brown.
2) Reduce heat to low, add the rest of the onion, stir very thoroughly, and slow-cook (soffrito)
3) run the garlic through a garlic press and add to the onion, stir
4) chop the stemmed, skinned, seeded, roasted peppers
5) when the onions are soft, add the peppers and heat through

combine:

Mix the cheezy sauce into the vegetables. Add additional seasoning (e.g. Cholula hot sauce) to taste.

SERVE:

Serve a combination of Hongos and Rajas on warm, best quality corn tortillas with tomatillo/avocado salsa or salsa verde and chopped fresh cabbage.

The Ren - Bouldin Creek Cafe

The Ren is one of four vegan breakfast tacos offered at Bouldin Street Cafe.

Mostly it is firm tofu, encrusted in an intense spice bend dominated by nutritional yeast. I suspect there is miso in it as well.

There were some sauteed diced onions for sweetness and texture, and a whole lot of sliced pickled jalapenos.

I'm sure some people would find this utterly inedible; I wouldn't serve it to unsuspecting Canadians. I thought it was marvelous, but I think I'd need to tone down the pepper. Poblano rajas might do the trick.