Who wouldn’t love a good celebr
ation with festive foods to accompany all the fun?!
That’s one of the reasons New Yorkers flock towards holidays like Cinco de Mayo. It is one of those holidays that people of all walks of life find fun here. It’s an exciting unofficial start of warm weather dining outdoors with tasty foods and boozy drinks that scream summer before summer begins. So how can our vegan buddies join in on the fun? Easy! Portobello mushroom Fiesta Fajitas! Mushrooms are one of those versatile foods that are meaty in texture and take on the seasonings you toss at ‘em. Perfect for some fun Mexican flare.
I tested these out on my roommate and she loved them. She’s not vegan and loved the taste and texture, pointing out that she wouldn’t even think twice about any meat missing in this dish. I added the no-beef broth to give the essence of that flavor meat eaters love to say they’d miss about steak so much so they would never be vegan. The base of this recipe comes from Happy Herbivore’s fabulous portabello steaks. Specifically her combination of the broth with balsamic vinegar gives the mushrooms that full bodied beefy flavor. Let’s get started!
What you will need:
2 portabello mushroom caps, sliced
1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 cup no-beef broth*
1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1-2 tbsp. taco seasoning**
¼ cup cilantro
2-4 leaves of lacinto kale
Flour tortillas
Let’s get cooking:
First, add some olive oil (about 1-2tbsp) to a pan set to medium heat, toss in the onions and peppers, add a pinch of salt and pepper, and saute for about 5 minutes until onions are translucent.
Toss in garlic and cook another minute or two before adding in about a ¼ cup of the no-beef broth*, making sure to scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan (the added flavor for our beefy sauce).
Mix into the pan the tbsp. of balsamic vinegar and your taco seasoning**. At this point if the no-beef broth has cooked down too much, add another ¼ cup.
Add in the sliced portabella mushrooms, and nestle them into the saucy pan, cover and cook for about 5 minutes for the sauce to get soaked up. Give your portabellas a toss, cover pan and cook for another 5 minutes on the other side, adding more broth if necessary. Portabellas are done when they’ve softened and taken on the deep color of the broth, and the flavors of the balsamic and taco seasoning… YUM!
While the mushrooms are cooking, you can remove the rib from the kale. (That’s the stalky tough stem of the kale.) I used kale with these fajitas for their hearty texture, but any preferred green would work if you’re not a fan of kale.
Next, heat a dry pan to warm your tortillas, a few seconds per side. Watch not to dry them out and make them crisp!
Once the mushrooms are done, you’re ready to plate them. Layer the tortilla with the kale, then the mushroom, onion, pepper combination, top with chopped cilantro and enjoy!
*No-beef broth can be purchased boxed like your usual vegetable or no-chicken based broths, or you can also use Edward & Sons brand no-beef bouillon cubes (which can be mixed with boiling water, and used just like the boxed broth). I like keeping a few of the bouillon cubes handy (saves space in my little Manhattan kitchen cabinets!)
**For the taco seasoning, I mixed my own spices together using the measurements off this recipe from allrecipes.com, altering slightly with a bit more garlic and minus onion powder (since I was out of it). It was the first time I had mixed my own spices, and I really liked this recipe I found. But you are welcome to use whatever taco seasoning you’d prefer!
Let me know what you think would be another awesome addition to your vegan Cinco festivities!
Another Food Love 