Tacos - Vegetarian Style - Looking on the Bright Side

Ray’s Recipe for Dinner for One

I love tacos! Think about it for a second. No, meditate on it for a moment. When you find your center, there will be a taco waiting for you. Hah, you say. You doubt. You double doubt. I have it on excellent authority from the taco gurus Tony and Tina Martinez, owners of Tony and Tina’s Taco Time Veggie Tacos. Tony and Tiny have been eating tacos since they were a week old. Tony’s abuela (grandmother) claims it ended his cholic. Tony met Tina at a taco food truck. Tony’s working the truck and Tina wanted a vegetarian taco. Tony never heard of a veggie taco, but Tina’s dark eyes, pouty lips, black hair through a steel cable around his heart. He was gone, long gone. He scooped veggies onto a corn tortilla, layered it with guac, added a few jalapenos, asked Tina if she wanted a dab of sour cream. She slowly and seductively shook her head no. Tony asked her to wait a minute, he quit his job, took two veggie tacos and dined with Tina on a nearby park bench. Asked her to marry him. A quick trip to Vegas, Tony and Tina are married. The cause of this romance? Tacos! Veggie tacos.

Let’s get real. We need protein in our veggie taco. Raise your hands vegetarians, “How do vegetarians add protein to their meals.” Not you in the front row. You have enough brownie points. You to the left, put your hand down, you answered the last ten questions. How about you staring out the window, wondering why you’re reading this blog?”

“Who, me?”

“Yes, you.”

“What was the question?”

What did I ever do to deserve this? Is this my penance for sneaking a piece of chicken and telling vegetarians it was quinoa?

Put your hands down, class time is running out. I’ve got to cut to the chase, cross the finish line, meet the WordPress deadline to get this post online before my laptop turns into a pumpkin, apologies to Cinderella fans.

If you can count to five you can do it.

!. Buy extra firm tofu. That’s right extra firm tofu. Cut it in rectangles, squares, triangles, use your creativity as long as it is in bite size or two bite size pieces.

2. Baste it with EVOO, crushed red pepper, put it in a non-stick, easy to clean skillet that has a layer of EVOO, turn the heat up to mostly high. What does mostly high mean? It’s guy talk – I don’t know.

3. Watch the sizzle, flip occasionally. If anyone is watching, add a little flair so you look like you know what you’re doing. When the tofu is closing in on a nice shade of golden brown, toss in the cut up veggies – oops – I didn’t mention the cut up veggies. How hard is to dice onion, poblano pepper, a red pepper, and a jalapeno? Not very. Okay, it is for the dude playing with his iPhone and doing selfies during class to post on Instagram.

4. Mix it all together. If any of the tofu look well done, pull those babies out. When the deal is done, turn off the burner. Move the skillet to the side, put the mixings into a nice bowl, and bring on the tacos. Five steps, recorded in photos for you. Another meal well done, Ray.