Vegetarian Tacos

There aren't many dinners that are as much fun a tacos, nor many that get people to let their hair down so readily. Beer, chillie and a bit of crunch. We followed this with a SMOOTH creme caramel. Breakfast consists of nachos made with broken taco shells and leftovers. I've heard that mexican food, as served in Mexico, is usually quite mild despite the reputation. So go easy on the chillie and if there are chillie lovers in the house, provide some hot sauce or salsa. Ingredients for 10 people Green Grocer 2-3 ea large onions chopped finely 1 ea whole head of garlic chopped finely 1-2 ea red capsicum chopped roughly 1-2 ea mild chillies chopped finely Dry Store 2 ea x 150g packets of TVP (Textured Vegetable Protein) 1 ea 600 gram tin of cooked kidney beans 1 ea 600 gram tin of whole peeled tomatoes 4 teaspoons of coriander seed 2 teaspoons of cummin seed 1 tablespoon of sweet paprika 2 teaspoons salt 2 vegetable stock cubes 2 whole bayleaves 20-30 taco shells (enough for 2-3 each, but see notes below) 1.6 Litres boiling water Method

• Get your kitchen hand to chop everything up first.
• Dissolve stock cubes in 800ml of the boiling water.
• Pour this stock over the TVP, cover and let stand for 15 minutes.
• You can use powdered spices but they provide nowhere near as vibrant a flavour as this method provides - In a dry pan (no oil!) toast the cummin seed and coriander seed. Shake the pan over a high heat to keep the seeds moving. They will start to pop audibly and fill your nostrils with a heavenly aroma. Give them 2-3 minutes until the majority have popped.
• Crush the toasted spices to powder in a mortar. I usually add the salt at this stage.
• Fry onion on a high heat for about 10 minutes - a little bit of colour is good.
• When the onion is almost cooked, add the garlic and capsicum and cook for a couple of minutes.
• Your 15 minutes will just about be up now, so add the rest of the boiling water to the TVP, stir well and drain.
• Now the garlic will be cooked so add the spices including the paprika, bayleaves and salt.
• Turn the heat down low and stir for 30 seconds to coat everything.
• Add the tinned tomatoes one at a time crushing them with your hand as you do so (carefully, so as not to squirt tomato juice everywhere).
• Rinse the tin with half a cup of water and pour that in to the pot. Stir well.
• Drain and rinse the kidney beans in fresh water and add them as well.
• Bring the pot to a simmer and cook over low heat for an hour, stirring occasionally to prevent it from sticking.
• Preheat the oven to 180°
• Now is a good time to prepare condiments:
  • A fresh salsa of diced fresh tomatoes and capsicum dressed with lemon juice, salt and olive oil.
  • Shredded lettuce.
  • Grated cheese.
• 10 minutes before the hour is up, put taco shells in the oven.
• Add the TVP to the pot and stir.
• Taste for seasoning and add salt if necessary

Serving Serve in serving bowls at the table and let everyone help themselves. Build a taco at the table by first adding the TVP mix, some cheese, lettuce and salsa. Eat with the hands. Make sure there are serviettes on hand as it can get a bit messy. Notes NOTE: Save some of the larger lettuce leaves and these also can be used to wrap up a little package. I actually prefer soft wheat tacos to the crunchy corn ones and usually provide both.