Happy Monday everyone! The rain has come back for a cold and dreary day, but at least all I have to do is look around @lenasveganliving's #fruitsandveggiesmonday contest for some vibrant food to brighten up the day! All the foodie ladies and gents on here have been showing up with their best for all of the challenges lately, and I'm sure today will be no different. 🤩
I'm still not quite feeling my best today, but I have something for the communal Monday table regardless. Though you all may be happy it is a virtual potluck lest my cooties are catching. My dish today actual puts to use one of our fabulous hostess's recipes. I had eye-balled Lena's Crispy Cauliflower Wings a while back after seeing her post the recipe. Luckily I remembered wanting to try it out after purchasing a huge cauliflower from the market on Saturday. I couldn't wait to put together the whole meal to finally try it out!
I also happened upon some new peppers from one of the vendors at the market. He had posted a little bit about them on his Instagram feed, so I was excited to be introduced to the Ajà Limo in person. This colorful chili is from Peru and has a citrus note to it in addition to a good kick. Since I had never worked with them before I opted to throw one into a kohlrabi and bell pepper relish to top my tacos to see how spicy it came out. @dksart likes a solid punch of heat, but I prefer it a bit more subtle. I'm happy to report one was just the right heat for me! I am excited to see how else I can use these little guys since I definitely have plenty to use up.
The relish was just:
- 2 red bell peppers, seeded & finely chopped
- 1 kohlrabi bulb, peeled & finely chopped
- 1 Ajà Limo, seeded & minced
- 1 lime, juice & zest
I used the food processor to do the heavy chopping and just mixed everything together for a fresh and lightly spicy topper for my final dish.
I've seen lots of the ladies around here whipping up their own wraps and tortillas, so I decided to give some homemade lentil tortillas a shot. I soaked a cup of red lentils overnight, then blended them up with some water and a pinch each of ground cumin and coriander. From there you just pour the batter in into a pan and cook for a few minutes on each side. So they ended up a little more like pancakes than tortillas, but @dksart and I didn't mind because the flavor was great. They also held together a whole lot better than most store-bought options which is a huge win (right @puravidaville?).
I made a few tiny adjustments to Lena's cauliflower recipe based on what I had on hand. Instead of the rice flour I used chickpea flour and water for the batter. I'm happy to report it worked perfectly. I also added some salsa & pico seasoning to the bread crumbs to go along with my theme. They were perfect in the tacos! Crispy on the outside, but soft and totally cooked through.
I think we'll have some extra to munch on since I had such a big head of cauliflower to work with. It's always fun to get a chance to finally try out some of my favorite folks' recipes. The finishing touch was an easy homemade guacamole with mashed avocado and lime juice. Done and done!
We've got some more for dinner tonight to enjoy all over again. Using the smaller pan I was able to get 12 "tortillas" out of the batter, which was perfect to get 3 veggie-packed tacos for each of us yesterday and today. Maybe after that I'll use the extra cauliflower and relish in a yummy salad. That's if I don't gobble up all the other crispy little morsels of cauliflower before then...
Have a great week everyone!
