5.29.09 | baja-style grilled tempeh tacos

i've been meaning to experiment more with tempeh, and when i came across a coupon I decided it was time to stock up and try this recipe from veganomicon.

baja-style grilled tempeh tacos (veganomicon)
the preparation started the night before by making the taco slaw and the chile-beer marinade for the tempeh. i settled on dos exuis lager especial for the marinade and substituted cayenne for chili powder.

the next day I prepared the lime crema with wild wood organic unsweetened plain probiotic soyogurt and fried my marinated tempeh pieces in some peanut oil. the plastic reusable wild wood container was the perfect size for storing and chilling the lime crema in the fridge. While the recipe instructions say to fry the tempeh prior to cutting into thin slices, I found that slicing prior to frying resulted in tastier individual pieces. steve and i heated some corn tortillas and set up our assembly line...slaw, tempeh and crema.

the tacos were good, but not great. the stars of the recipe are definitely the marinade and the lime crema. i added some diced avocado salad which rounded out the tacos really well, but i found the slaw to be too sour from the vinegar. i also missed the beer-battered filling from typical baja fish tacos. i'm thinking that some firm tofu, marinated in the same mixture and beer-battered, would produce better and tastier results, although not as healthy : /. i will try to experiment with this some more and hopefully come up with a better recipe.

5.24.09 | seared tuna tacos

steve decided that he wanted to prepare a meal for me all on his own and i thought that seared tuna would be a good and easy introduction to gourmet cooking. and so i handed over my trusted tuna taco recipe, we picked up some nice sashimi grade ahi tuna steaks at trader joe's and he got to cookin!

aside from a minor scare which involved taco shells going up in flames in my toaster oven and lots of smoke, screaming and barking (my dog), all turned out really well!! in fact, we got a nice laugh out of it after all was said and done :)

seared ahi tuna tacos with avocado salsa (recipe available at the food network)

we used one 6.5 ounce steak and halved the recipe, which made enough filling for two tacos each. i highly recommend using white corn taco shells instead of the traditional yellow variety.

romaine lettuce with agave-mustard dressing (veganomicon)

The original recipe called for maple syrup, which i was out of, but agave nectar worked just fine.

quickie pickled radishes (recipe available at cooking with amy)

i was supposed to stay out of the kitchen, but couldn't help myself and instead grabbed some radishes from my garden and quickly googled a recipe. this couldn't have been easier to make! i think next time i will cut back on the sugar and add some hot chili, but definitely a great basic recipe to start with.