Feb 9th - Tofu OR Pork Tacos

Tofu Tacos

Pork Taco

We do tacos or fajitas occasionally. It's fairly easy and if you have all the ingredients kicking about, pretty quick. As well, I like to be able to stuff them with my own fillings and mix of vegetables. Where we part ways, D and I, are the shells. D prefers soft shell and I like hard. Tonight was a compromise night :^P. I bought a half half pack of shells from the El Paso line.

Generally, their hardshells are pretty good. Their soft shells have never been. Once they all stuck together in the heating. They were quite small, which is fine but they were rather doughy. We had planned on getting the stack of corn ones that we're always seeing the specialty markets. We've never bought them because they normally come in these bread bags of 100. What are we going to do with a 100 masa shells when we only do Mexican once a month at most? Too bad, we were both craving them and didn't have time to go to that shop. The other thing about the El Paso kits that are a bit lacking is their 'taco sauce'. It's basically a spicy tomato ketchupy sauce. It reminds of the stuff that comes in the foil packs you get at Taco Bell. We didn't use it. We did use the spice pack to cook the tofu and the pork.

All D needed to do was reheat the pork in the oven, covered in foil at 350 for 20 minutes. Chop it up and toss with the spice mix. Or if you're less patient, chop it and sautee it in a small pan with the spice mix.

Tomato Salsa

3 tomatoes, seeded and diced

1/4 red onion, finely diced

1 jalapeno pepper finely diced

1/2 c chopped fresh cilantro

1 clove garlic minced

1/2 lime, juiced

salt and pepper (barely a pinch)

1 t olive oil

Mix the ingredients in a bowl and let souse. The longer the better. I just threw this on top of the salsa I already made for Superbowl.

Tofu Taco Filling

200 g tofu cut in strips (or mashed, depends how you like it)

1/4 onion finely sliced

1/2 c red wine

1/2 taco spice pack

In a large non stick pan, on medium high heat, sautee the onions and tofu until the onions are soft and the tofu starts to brown. Don't stir too much or you'll break up the tofu. Tossing is better. But as well, if you let it sit, it will brown better. Add spice mix and stir gently. Add the wine by circling the pan. You can add some more wine or water if it gets too sticky. Serve in a bowl with the other toppings. I use a good helping per shell. Lettuce is filler! I had a good 4 taco's from this. It could make 6 normal human sized ones.

Taco Toppings Suggestions

1 carrot, shredded

1-2 cups chopped savoy and purple cabbage (because we had it) otherwise use arugula or curly endive. Something meaty with flavour. I am not a fan of iceberg.

1 c shredded cheddar or monterey jack or mexican cheese if you can get it.

Salsa

Hot sauce of your choice....nothing smoky.

Diced avocado

Sour cream, low fat