I am too late for last week's plantbased challenge but this would have been the post.
We had six items to choose from. Mushrooms were one of them so I chose the thing I've been really into lately. I was buying exotic mushrooms for a lot of money but the mushroom man at the park is finished so I will resort to the ones that I can get easily, and afford. I don't want to work extra hours for shrooms. No.
I can always find black trumpet mushrooms at certain stores and portobellos are common everywhere. These were what I chose for the meat of the tacos.
Taco filling
Chopped mushrooms (around 8 cups)
1 chopped onion
3 cloves garlic
1 shallot
1/4 cup vegetable broth
1 tablespoon soy sauce
3 or 4 tablespoons tomato puree
Pinch of toasted cumin
Pinch of toasted coriander seeds
Chili powder, black pepper and salt to taste
Start by browning onions, garlic and shallots along with cumin and coriander in a pan then add mushrooms and other ingredients.
Cook down until liquid is evaporated.
One thing I always like to make from scratch are tortillas. It's easy to find ready made tortillas in stores everywhere. I just don't like them as much as homemade ones. If I were in Mexico I wouldn't dream of making my own. I would just go and buy a nice warm pile of tortillas from one of the many tortillarias everywhere. They are the best.
Tortillas
2 cups of tortilla flour (I used Maseca)
1 to 2 cups warm water
Pinch of salt
Gradually add the water to the flour mixing until it's like play dough. It should stop sticking. Knead for a while then cover and rest for twenty to thirty minutes. Break of golf ball size pieces, roll into a ball. Put between 2 pieces of plastic. I used a grocery bag. Flatten with a plate and a rolling pin or whatever works. I used a bowl to cut out the tortillas. Brush each one with a little oil. It's not necessary really but I want to really make sure it doesn't stick. Flip back and forth each side on a medium high heat. You should see air pockets coming up. Press on the sides and more will appear. Do this until both sides are slightly browned in spots.
If you want homemade tortillas without this hack job that I do, you could get a tortilla press. I just don't want to bother buying one. I find this pretty easy. I'm sure a Mexican expert would tell me I'm doing it wrong but in the end I have tortillas.
I reheated the filling since I made it first. I also made a cantaloupe melon salsa. It is slightly sweet but goes great with lime and salt. It may seem strange to use this as a salsa or pico de gallo instead of tomatoes but there is often fruit used to garnish tacos. In Mexico melons are commonly eaten with chili and lime.
Cantaloupe salsa (pico de gallo)
1 small diced cantaloupe or any melon
1/4 cup diced red onion
Juice of 2 limes
Salt to taste
Small bunch of cilantro chopped
1 jalapeno pepper minced (I didn't use one because I was adding hot sauce later)
Often tacos get sour cream so I made a quick cashew cream with soaked cashews. They had been soaking overnight. I like to have them on hand for things like this and dressings.
Cashew cream
2 cups soaked cashews
Water from soaking
1 or 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
Juice of a small lemon
Salt to taste
Blend everything adding only enough water to move the blender and make smooth and creamy.
The hot sauce I used was made last week from guajillo peppers combined with small hot chilies. You can follow my guidelines in this post but be free to do your own thing. I like things quite spicy so if you don't then you know what not to do.
I love Asian food the most but next is Mexican. These are both cultures that use some of my favorite ingredients. Hot spices, cilantro and lime.
It's difficult to find an assortment of vegan food in Mexico but I'm sure it wouldn't be unheard of to make tacos with mushrooms. If you love mushrooms this would not be disappointing even for a meat eater.
Have you ever posted for plantbased challenge? You know you can enter even if you are a hard core carnivore. Just do a plantbased recipe. Show what you eat and veganize it unless you are a plantbased eater then you know what to do. It's a great way to get your creative juices going.
It's also great fun. I missed last week but this week just started. If you would like to try, you can check out the challenge for this week and have some fun. Our gracious host is chef 
Thanks for dropping by!
