Tacos may actually be my favorite food. They have everything right? They can be meaty, crunchy, cheesy, refreshing, spicy. They have the ability to meet any food desire you’re having at the moment.
I love that one food can be so many different things. My go to is usually a crunchy shell with ground turkey that is simply seasoned with cumin & paprika, a little honey & lime, topped with roasted yellow peppers & onions, cheddar cheese, sour cream & cilantro. Amazing.
I also love a good, spicy chicken taco. I have a favorite adobo sauce I make in bulk & then save in the freezer. I love it on top of a cassava tortilla with pickled red onions, cilantro & avocado. Okay, I’m hungry for tacos now & it’s 8:03 am.
But every once & a while I need to shake things up completely with my tacos.. that’s where these amazing buffalo cauliflower & black bean tacos came from.
These are really great because they are vegetarian, making them a perfect go to if you’re doing a meatless Monday or just want to cook something a bit cheaper that is still so filling. What’s so crazy is that I could barely eat two of these.. which normally I can put down some tacos. But these are just so filling, two were definitely enough!
It’s also a great recipe to have in your back pocket because it honest to goodness took 20 minutes to make. The perfect go to for a last minute meal!
The only thing we are really cooking here is the tortillas & cauliflower. I did both in a cast iron skillet.
First I heated my cast iron to medium high & added my corn tortillas one at a time, cooking on both sides until it started to brown. You could skip this, but it’s so easy & gives the corn tortillas a much, much better flavor in my opinion.
I set my tortillas to the side & started with my cauliflower. I cut up a head of cauliflower into pretty small pieces because that’s my preference. I got my cast iron pretty hot, added olive oil & then my cauliflower.
I love this because it gets so brown & crisp almost right away. I seasoned with salt, pepper & lots of garlic powder. Then I added my favorite hot sauce – Valentino. Of course, use your favorite! I added enough hot sauce to coat the cauliflower without getting too saucy.
Now it’s all about assembling! I had a can of my favorite black beans ( I like the Simple Truth Spicy Black Beans.. they aren’t spicy at all, they just have a better flavor! ) that I drained, but didn’t rinse. I smushed them with a fork so that they were smooth with a few whole beans left.
I smeared some of my beans onto my warm corn tortillas, then added my buffalo cauliflower then topped it with fresh cilantro, avocado & cotija cheese. Fresh onions would be amazing too!
See! Wasn’t that easy? Honestly writing this is making me hungry.. I may have to go whip these up again!
Bon Appetit!
ellyn
SERVINGS: 4 or 8 tacos
INGREDIENTS:
Always: olive oil, salt, pepper & garlic powder
- 8 corn tortillas
- 1 head of cauliflower
- 1 can prepared black beans
- ¾ – 1 cup Valentino hot sauce ( or your favorite hot sauce! )
- Optional toppings: lime, cilantro, avocado, diced onions or cotija cheese
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Heat a cast iron skillet to medium high. Cook corn tortillas one at a time on each side until beginning to brown.
- Chop cauliflower florets into desired size ( I like it to be pretty small because it’s easier to eat & cooks faster! )
- In the same cast iron, add about a tablespoon of olive oil & let get hot for about 1 minute.
- Add the cauliflower florets, cook until starting to brown & crisp. This should only take a few minutes.
- Add seasoning to taste ( salt, pepper & garlic powder. ) I like a lot of garlic powder with this!
- Add enough hot sauce to coat cauliflower, let cook for another minute or two. Remove from heat.
- Drain black beans, but do not rinse. Add to a bowl & smash with a fork until most of the beans are gone.
- To assemble smear the black bean on the bottom of the warm tortillas, top with cauliflower.
- OPTIONAL: add cilantro, cotija cheese, diced onions or guacamole
- Enjoy!
