WHOLE ROASTED CAULIFLOWER & SEASONAL TACOS
This is a fun and super tasty taco spread using seasonal ingredients. As delicious as these veggies are, the fire and flair comes from the salsas and sauces. I think it’s safe to say the seasons have changed, and I don’t know about you but I feel like winter food can get a little boring and heavy. This is a different way to serve vegetables and a really fun spread to invite people over for, plus it’s healthy and nourishing at the same time. You can switch out your filings too as the seasons change or depending what you have in the kitchen.
As I said, for me what brings these tacos to life are the salsas, so don’t skip them please! Rather than fresh tomatoes they’re made using dried chiles, nuts and seeds. The chile morita is adapted from Enrique Olvera’s Mexico from the Inside Out; a beautiful and inspiring cookbook.
This meal does require a little work but it’s totally worth it and it’s a really nice spread to share with family and friends. It’s also a sneaky way to get people who may not like certain veg like beets for example, into eating them and loving them!
Don’t feel like you have to make everything on this menu, I got a bit carried away and I thought it would make a beautiful shot so it turned into a feast. You can go just for the roast cauliflower and leave the beetroot and potatoes and it will still be an incredible spread. I suggest both lettuce leaves to wrap and tortillas, I think it’s nice to have both as the leaves are a little lighter, it’s a different vibe to the tortillas, plus it allows you to eat more fillings! Both delicious.
This beautiful taco feast will be part of the main course at our November 11th Yoga Fiesta at Reva studios.
Starting at 2pm and finishing 5.30pm with Emmy, the perfect winter afternoon treat.
This month we'll be donating £1 of every ticket sold to Our Mala. A charity that 'gives refugees and asylum-seekers a safe space to breathe and stability through Yoga.
Details and last tickets you can purchase through this link..
Other events coming up:
December 7th
An evening event combining yoga, eating, meeting new people, & finishing with a guided meditation.
We're very excited to host our first event in in the stunning 42 Acres in Shoreditch.
This month we're donating a £1 of each ticket to the charity Shelter. 'Shelter helps millions of people every year struggling with bad housing or homelessness through our advice, support and legal services.'
January 27th
A Sunday Yoga brunch at Reva, to lift you up post holidays. This time the lovely Ness will be joining us to teach.
This month we're giving £1 of each ticket sale to Curry for Change , the fundraising campaign that uses people’s love of curry to help change the lives of rural families in Asia and Africa who suffer from hunger.
Seasonal vegetable tacos & whole roast cauliflower
2 beetroot – about 250g, washed
2 sweet potato – about 300g, washed
2 tbsp coconut oil
2 red onion, sliced
50g toasted pumpkin seeds
50g roughly chopped fresh coriander
1 heaped tsp paprika
salt & pepper to taste
Chipotle cashew crema
100g cashews, soaked for 4 hours, or quick soaked*
100g water
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp capers
1 clove garlic
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
2 tsp ground chipotle
juice 1 lime
Peanut chile morita salsa
100g peanuts
3 dried chipotle
3 dried cascabel chiles
1 white onion
2 cloves garlic
200ml olive oil
pinch salt
Whole roast cauliflower
1 cauliflower
Marinade –
2 tbsp coconut yoghurt or coconut cream
2 tbsp coconut oil
1 tbsp ground ancho chile
1 tbsp smoked hot paprika – I used Mexican *
½ tbsp. ground cumin
½ tbsp. coconut sugar
big pinch salt
Serve with lettuce and corn tortillas to wrap, (I like the Cool Chile brand), finely sliced red cabbage, coriander and lime wedges.
* To quick soak your cashews, cover with boiling water and let sit for 30 minutes before using.
Do ahead : Trim the cauliflower so it can stand in a small, parchment lined roasting tray.
Mix the marinade ingredients in a small bowl and cover the cauliflower in the marinade. Set aside to marinate for an hour.
Pre heat the oven 200c. While the oven is warming roast the peanuts for the salsa, until golden, about 15 minutes. Set aside.
Wash and steam the beetroot in a pan with a little water and the lid on for about 30 minutes until just tender, you can use a small knife to test them, it should go in easily. Cut the sweet potato into 2 cm pieces, steam in a little water in a pan with the lid on for 10 minutes.
Line two baking trays with parchment paper. Cut the beetroot into 2cm pieces and place on one of the trays, drizzle with coconut oil. On the other place your drained sweet potato and drizzle with the rest of the coconut oil.
Put your cauliflower into the oven first, as this will take the longest, roast the for about 50 minutes until the cauliflower is tender in the middle, please note, cooking times will vary slightly depending on the size of the cauliflower. You can check its ready by using a small knife to test the middle as you did with the beetroot.
After 20 minutes, add the beetroot and sweet potato to the oven. Roast for 30 minutes mixing half way, they should take on a nice colour, add your onions and continue to roast for another 10 minutes.
Once the your roast veg is ready mix together in a bowl with the paprika, coriander, toasted pumpkin seeds and salt and pepper.
While your cauliflower is marinating and then roasting, prep the rest of your vegetables and salsas.
To make the almond chile morita salsa.
Finely chop or briefly blitz the nuts in a food processor, so they are roughly chopped. In a small pan add your chiles and olive oil, reserving 50ml of the oil. Gently heat until you begin to see bubbles appear in the pan, turn off and let sit for 15 minutes. In a separate pan, cook your onion in the remaining oil on a low heat until they are soft and begin to caramelise, about 10 minutes, add the garlic and cook for another couple of minutes.
Blitz everything except the almonds in a high speed blender. Transfer to a jar or bowl and stir in the nuts, season with a pinch of salt.
For the cashew crema, drain and rinse the cashews, blend ingredients in a high speed blender for about a minute until smooth, adding more water if it's too thick. Taste for seasoning, add more salt if needed.
Serve with warm tortillas and whole lettuce leaves to wrap.
Place all the components in the centre of your table and people can make their own tortillas. Starting with your wrap- tortilla or lettuce, then your salsa and crema, the veg mix, or cauliflower finish with finely sliced red cabbage, coriander and a squeeze of lime.
NB. Morita chipotle and cascabel chiles are widely available now in supermarkets. However I use Cool chile for most of my Mexican ingredient needs, you can find their produce in many local shops and Wholefoods. They also have Mexican paprika and great fresh corn tortillas or masa harina – tortilla corn flour if you want to have a go at making your own.