Cauliflower Tacos

Soft and warm corn tortillas are topped with cauliflower florets, corn, and black beans seasoned with cumin, then drizzled with a smoky and spicy tomatillo sauce. 

Cauliflower Taco 

*Note: This recipe is part of a series on how to turn a whole roasted cauliflower into five recipes — check them all out here. This recipe calls for 5 oz of roasted cauliflower, about ⅕ of a 3-pound cauliflower once roasted. To roast a whole head: trim the stems and leaves flush with the bottom and discard, brush the head with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and roast it in a 450F degree oven on the bottom rack for 50 minutes. You can set aside the remaining amount to make the other recipes, use it to scale up the recipe below, or freeze it for a later use.

Ingredients

Tomatillo Sauce:

• 2 tomatillos
• 1 small jalapeno, halved and seeded
• ½ medium onion
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 tsp garlic paste
• ¼ tsp chipotle pepper powder
• Salt, to taste
• Pepper, to taste
• 1 tsp lime juice

Taco:

• 2 tsp butter
• 5 oz roasted cauliflower*, broken into small-medium sized florets
• 3 tbsp whole kernel corn
• 3 tbsp black beans
• ¼ tsp cumin
• Salt, to taste
• Pepper, to taste
• 3 corn tortillas
• 2 tbsp queso fresco
• Cilantro leave, for garnish, to taste

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 400F degrees.

For the sauce:

Remove the husks from the tomatillos and discard, then rinse the tomatillos under water, and cut them in half. On a baking sheet, toss the tomatillos, jalapeno, and onion in the olive oil, garlic paste, chipotle powder, salt and pepper. Place the vegetables cut side up on the baking sheet and roast in the oven for 35 minutes. Remove from oven, but leave the oven on, dropping heat to 350F degrees. Puree the tomatillos, jalapeno and onion in a food processor with the lime. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 

For the tacos:

Melt the butter over medium-low heat in a sauté pan. Add the cauliflower, black beans and corn, then season with cumin, salt, and pepper. Sauté for 2 to 3 minutes. 

Carefully lay each tortilla flat on the (hot) oven rack for one minute. Remove the tortillas from the oven and place them on a plate. Divide the sauteed mixture evenly over each tortilla, then drizzle the tomatillo sauce evenly over each, and top with crumbled queso fresco and cilantro.

Yield: Makes 3 tacos

Ariel Lefkowitz is a Canadian/American food writer, chef, and video journalist based in Montreal, QC. She has been a trained chef for over a decade. Ariel believes that cooking is a critical part of self-care that should be joyful, sustainable and accessible. She is currently developing a comedic cooking show, titled ‘Cooking in the Cut’. Follow her at @cookinginthecut.