www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Food - Recipes Ground Mushroom Soft Tacos

With the warm, sunny days of summer now behind us, and with us preparing for the Birth of Our Divine Lord through the Nativity Fast, now's the time we have to be creative with recipes again... Now just because we are called to fast, doesn't mean we can't have something creative and fun to make. Here is a recipe that you can make either for a soft taco and/or burrito that will be fast-friendly, and will make you think of warmer days ahead (hopefully).

For the filling:
1 cup button mushrooms, roughly chopped
1/2 Vidalia Onion or any large onion, roughly chopped
About 4 - 5 cloves of garlic
1/2 bunch of cilantro

With the above ingredients, place them into a food processor (I normally recommend a Vitamix), set it to finely mince until it reaches a "taco meat" consistency. Then set a non-stick frying pan to medium-high heat, and now I know oil is normally forbidden, so I would use juice of 1/2 a lime, then use the other half for the salsa that goes on top of everything. Fry until everything looks caramelized and/or golden brown.

For the fresh salsa:

3 - 4 Roma Tomatoes, roughly chopped
Other 1/2 of cilantro
Other 1/2 of the onion, roughly chopped
1 - 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and roughly sliced
Juice of 1/2 a lime

With the food processor, set it to chop and combine the ingredients together to form a salsa, and salt to taste, if desired, set in a refrigerator if desired, for approx. 1 - 2 hours, or when ready to serve the mushroom tacos or burritos.

To wrap the burritos or soft tacos:

For a mushroom burrito:

Take a 10" tortilla (preferably multigrain), and place a spatula or large spoon, and place the filling mixture, when cooked, into the center of the tortilla, wrap by folding in the sides, then rolling forward tucking in the filling, then ladle the salsa on top of the burrito. Enjoy.

For a mushroom soft taco:

Take a 6 - 8" tortilla, then make a row of the filling mixture in the center, then place a few shreds of lettuce or cabbage, then the salsa, fold, and enjoy. You will be fasting, yet enjoying a Tex-Mex meal at the same time, and it will make you feel of that warmer, summer sunset. LOL. Happy fasting everyone!

Sounds interesting and yummy! Mushrooms are indeed hearty and a good substitute for meat. I love mushrooms!

We are so lucky to have the fasts which force us to eat the way we should!

I was reading an article from Greece today that said that since people have started eating meat more (in a good part, falling away from fasting has contributed to this, as well as influence from the West), Greeks have forgotten their long time traditional dishes of legumes, which are potent cancer fighters.

If any one here hasn't already discovered legumes as a protein source alternative to meat, I recommend that you do.

I giggle when I see the menus of many Greek restaurants that have popped up all over the country--so many of them have betrayed and forsaken the true Greek cuisine (profit being the main reason) which includes so many delicious vegetarian and vegan dishes with seasonal produce, legumes, and sea food, and always prepared with tasty extra virgin olive oil, sea salt, fresh herbs and spices, and often times, freshly squeezed lemon or at other times, tomato sauce.

I discovered so many amazing vegan and vegetarian dishes from my ethnic background after starting to fast.

The Lebanese cuisine is also heavy on delicious vegan and vegetarian meals. And ofcourse, nothing beats a well made falafel with tahini sauce in pita sandwich! :=)

Happy fasting!

I loooooooove falafel in pita bread with tahini sauce! Ever since moving here, I haven't had any. Oh, well, part of the trade-off for the peace and quiet of a rural area!

Well, living in a neighborhood within blocks of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, Parma has plenty of different restaurants and grocery stores with a lot of different ideas all over the place. I always find new ideas and new innovations to how fasting should be, easy? Probably not, but...living in this area almost all my life, if not all my life, I don't think it's too tough to know what works and what doesn't.

Although another good Tex-Mex vegan treat is to take a portabello mushroom, thinly slice it, and grill it along with bell pepper strips and onion slices, and make some good fajitas as well.

Also, you're right about Lebanese restaurants. We have quite a few of those within a good 5 - 10 mile radius of here. I am aware of their fast-friendly menus.

It
Iron Bob (both Bobs here have the same icon avatar!):

Having been to Ohio, but never to Parma, I didn't know much about where you lived, but I found this:

Today, Parma's population has once again reached 81,601, though it remains one of the Cleveland-area's top three desitinations young adults (aged 22 to 34) are increasingly choosing as a place to live, along with Lakewood and downtown Cleveland[24] and was recently recognized by Businessweek as one of the best places to raise kids in Ohio.[25]



Sounds like a nice place to live! :=)