August 15, 2013

spicy sauteed chickpea + mushroom tacos

When we lived in San Diego, I had the most amazing visiting teacher named Autumn. Autumn is a chocolatier at Eclipse Chocolat so when I say "amazing" I mean, she brought me lavender gray sea salt chocolate bars or exotic salted caramels when she came over. I know... Plus she has an awesome and hilarious personality so it was a win-win all around.
One of the gifts that Autumn brought me was some homemade chili powder and it is so good. I'm down to the last little bit in my jar and I am rationing it very carefully by only using it when it'll make a big difference (which is, I find, pretty often with my meals). This is one of those recipes that definitely deserves good chili powder. If you don't have an Autumn in your life, well, I'm so sorry. Someday I hope to learn how to make it like she does because it is one of my favorite things in my cupboard.

I found this recipe for roasted chickpea and mushroom tacos but here's the thing. It's 100+ degrees here in Arizona (still) and I am not about to turn on the oven at the hottest part of the day. So, I decided to adapt this recipe to the stovetop and ended up changing quite a few things to suit what I had and what I like (this happens to me often). This is a really simple recipe. Straight forward, not a lot of weird techniques or strange ingredients - unless you've never heard of chickpeas, which is a shame because they're one of the best foods on the planet. So get cracking!

1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and patted dry
1/4 cup red onion, finely diced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cups portobello mushrooms, cut into 2" pieces
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 - 2 teaspoon chili powder (depending on how spicy you want it)
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
splash of apple cider vinegar
kosher salt + pepper
1 lime (plus more for serving, if desired)
8 corn tortillas, for serving
2 avocados, sliced

Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium high heat. Add red onion and saute for 3 minutes until starting to soften. Stir in garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add dry chickpeas, chili powder and oregano and stir to combine. Saute for 5 minutes. Add another tablespoon of olive oil, a splash of apple cider vinegar, the juice of the lime and the mushrooms. Stir to combine and put a lid on the pan to let the mushrooms cook for 1 minute. Once the mushrooms have softened enough, season with salt and pepper and remove from heat.

Heat the tortillas in a small pan over medium heat until soft and warm. Place a spoonful of the chickpea mushroom mixture in a warm tortilla with pineapple salsa (recipe below), sliced avocado and more chopped cilantro. You can also top with diced tomatoes or shredded lettuce, if you want. I didn't and thought it was great without.

Pineapple Salsa:
2 cups fresh pineapple, diced small
1/4 cup red onion, finely diced
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
Juice of 1 lime
kosher salt + pepper
splash of olive oil

Combine all in a medium bowl and set aside until ready to use.

3 comments:

  1. I, too, am a big fan of Autumn. Didn't know you knew her!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mushrooms, pineapple and tacos. Three of my favorite things!!!!! Why not put them all together and top with magical avocado. I can't wait to eat these!

    ReplyDelete
  3. That looks delish. I just moved cross country from CA and the Mexican food here is different (like how tex-mex is not the same as what we have in CA either). Not bad, just not what I'm used to. So, I need to learn to cook all my favorites and probably some new recipes, too. I want to try this sometime after we're truly settled in. (Right now we're in a temporary situation looking for our home. Living 5 people to ~320SF is not ideal, but thankfully we all like each other!)

    http://muffeeeeeeee.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete

Comments are moderated to eliminate spammers and internet bullies.