I am a Honey Bee

All about my adventures with cooking, crafts, and travel

Cinco De Mayo

Crispy Tofu Tacos with a Mango Salsa and a Creamy Lime Drizzle

Crispy Tofu Tacos with a Mango Salsa

I’m skipping this week’s edition of Monday Munchies post to bring you a great recipe and GIVEAWAY!

I’ve been on a taco kick recently. In 1 week I had tacos 3 times. 3 times!! But the best part was that each were so different. I just love how versatile they are. I made ground turkey as the filling, then I had fish tacos when my mom and I were out to lunch when she was visiting last week, and then I made these tofu tacos. Each were so good in their own way.

Crispy Tofu Tacos with a Mango Salsa-1

Have you ever made tacos with tofu before? I never had but once I saw this recipe I knew I had to give it a try. I’ve used Nasoya’s great Organic non-GMO tofu in endless stir fry’s but I figured that I would change things up and give this recipe a try.

Boy, it did not disappoint!

The tofu was firm, crispy, and flavorful. It was great for a filling as a taco. In fact, it kinda reminded me of fish tacos. The texture was light like fish and it had a nice crisp coating on the pieces as well. No, it didn’t taste like fish so I wasn’t fooled there but the way that tofu absorbs flavors is spot on in that is soaked up the umami rich Worcestershire sauce and then it became best friends with the cumin in the dredge. Bestest of friends. (ugh, where is my mind?)

Crispy Tofu Tacos with a Mango Salsa-3 Crispy Tofu Tacos with a Mango Salsa-4 Crispy Tofu Tacos with a Mango Salsa-5 Crispy Tofu Tacos with a Mango Salsa-6

Anyway… the Nasoya TofuPlus is great to use in recipes like this, as well as stir fries, such as this Spicy Peanut Stir Fry. But if tofu is new to you then you should know that tofu comes in different firmness. You can use something like silken which you can use in these Carrot Cake Squares. Nasoya’s TofuPlus is verasitle so you can use it from everything to breakfast smoothies, grill it and serve it on a salad, to even making dessert with it!

The tofu is great but you can’t ignore that the mango salsa and the creamy lime drizzle add great flavors to the tacos as well. They really pack a punch to tie the flavors of the tacos together. Kinda creates the perfect bite sorta thing. You get the heat and tang from the creamy lime drizzle and then there is great balance from the sweetness from the mango in the salsa. Plus you get some crunch from the red pepper to add some nice texture to the tacos. yum!!

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So in conclusion- what? is this a essay or something?- these Crispy Tofu Tacos made with Nasoya tofu are just perfect for a Meatless Monday dinner. Have you done Meatless Monday before? You should give it a try. It’s a great night to change things up to kick off the week. You know, so you can take the week by the horns and kick some butt!

Crispy Tofu Tacos with a Mango Salsa-2

If you want to try these tofu tacos, or other great recipes using tofu, then be sure to enter my Nasoya GIVEAWAY after the recipe!!!

Crispy Tofu Tacos with a Mango Salsa and a Creamy Lime Drizzle

Makes 8 Tacos

Ingredients

For the Filling

  • 1 package Nasoya Extra-firm tofu, rinsed and patted dry
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 3/4 cup cornstarch
  • 1 teaspoon grill seasoning or seasoned salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 2 tablespoons canola oil

For the Mango Salsa

  • 1/2 cup diced mango
  • 1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
  • 1/2 cup diced avocado
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

For the Creamy Lime Drizzle

  • 1 teaspoon lime zest
  • 2 Tablespoons lime juice
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1 Tablespoon minced pickled jalapeno peppers

8 flour taco sized tortillas or 16 taco sized corn tortillas

Process

  1. Prepare the lime drizzle by zesting the lime rind into a small bowl. Juice the zested lime into the bowl and then add the sour cream and jalapeno peppers. Mix well to combine.
  2. Prepare the mango salsa by combining all of the salsa ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside.
  3. Prepare the filling by slicing the tofu lengthwise into 6 slices, and then quarter each piece resulting in 24 total rectangles; set aside.
  4. In a shallow bowl, beat eggs with the Worcestershire sauce. In another shallow bowl, mix together the cornstarch, grill seasoning and cumin.
  5. Heat oil in large, non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Dip each piece of tofu in the egg mixture, dredge in the cornstarch mixture, and then cook in the skillet for about 3 – 4 minutes per side (top and bottom) or until brown. Do not crowd in the skillet, so prepare the pieces in batches, if necessary.
  6. Heat tortillas according to the package directions. Assemble the tacos by placing 3 pieces in taco then dressing with the mango salsa and topping with the creamy lime drizzle.

Slightly adapted from Nasoya

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If you would like to win some Nasoya coupons for your own tacos, stir fries, smoothies, and much more, then all you have to do it leave a comment on this blog post telling me how you would use tofu in your own cooking.

For an extra entry tweet the following: “Tofu Tacos? Yes! perfect for #MeatlessMonday. These Crispy Tofu Tacos are a must try! http://wp.me/pzEAP-44I Plus a giveaway!” Come back here and leave a comment telling me you did this.

For an extra entry LIKE Nasoya on Facebook. Come back here and leave a comment telling me you did this.

*While I did receive complimentary product from Nasoya, these opinions are entirely my own.

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Thanks for visiting. Please leave me a comment to provide some feedback. I appreciate all the comments I receive.

Thirsty Thursday: Grilled Peach and Jalapeno Margarita

Grilled Peach and Jalapeno Margarita

We have never gone through so much propane for our grill in such a short time as we have done this year. Just burnin’ through it. But I can’t complain since it just means we have been enjoying the most amazing grilled things. Plus, it’s nice to get out of the kitchen and enjoy the nice weather while we wait.

Since I pretty much always have grilling on my mind during the summer, we decided to go with a grilled recipe for this week’s Thirsty Thursday recipe. It would be so much fun to incorporate something grilled into a drink. Grilled fruit or herbs would be a fun way to add a lot of flavor to a drink. Love to elevate flavors in a unique way.

Grilled Peach and Jalapeno Margarita_01 Grilled Peach and Jalapeno Margarita_02

I had a big bowl of peaches so I decided to grill them up to bring out their natural sweetness into a drink. But then what? I was thinking of a drink with bourbon but decided on using tequila. Hmmm… a grilled peach margarita sounded great but what else? Well, I realized I had some jalapenos so I decided the margarita could use some heat and decided to that them as well. In the end the Grilled Peach and Jalapeno Margarita was the perfect combination of sweet and spicy. Loved it!!

Have you ever had a Smoky Margarita before? Well, I think you need have one. Amanda has made would that has my mouth watering.  So get your grill going and enjoy. Yum!!!

Grilled Peach and Jalapeno Margarita

Makes 2 large margaritas

Ingredients

  • 2 large peaches, quartered
  • 1 jalapeno
  • 3 cups of ice
  • 1/2 cup fresh lime juice
  • 1/4 cup tequila

Process

  1. Place the peaches and jalapeno on a medium-high grill. Try not to move the peaches much to get nice grill marks on their surfaces. Rotate the jalapeno to darken and blister all the sides.
  2. Remove the peaches and jalapeno from the grill and let cool 15 minutes. Peel some of the blistered skin from the jalapeno, then slice in half length-wise and remove the seeds inside.
  3. Combine the ice, peaches, half of the jalapeno, ice, lime juice, and tequila to a blender. Blend for a minute, or until all ice is slushy and the ingredients are combined. Try the margarita for it’s level of spiciness and add more jalapeno if you prefer.

Thirsty Thursday: Chocolate Margaritas

chocolate margarita

When we’re home on the weekends we generally keep things low key, since the rest of the time we are running around traveling. On Saturdays we run over to Haymarket early in the morning so we can get all of our produce shopping done quickly and then the rest of the morning I try to lounge around watching Food Network Shows. For a long time the show Mexican Made Easy aired on Saturday mornings (now Friday afternoons) and I would glue myself to the sofa to watch Chef Marcela Valladolid for those 30 minutes whip up fantastic Mexican and Mexican inspired dishes. Plus I seriously want her wardrobe- so many tunics!

I’ve made several of her dishes but there was one that I saw and knew immediately I’d have to make. Plus I’ve made it repeatedly since then. And that would be her Chocolate Margaritas. I loved them the moment I made them. How could you not? Chocolate. Tequila. More chocolate. Since I love them so much I’ve made them quite often and overtime I’ve made some modifications. Mainly, instead of using heavy cream I used reduced fat milk. I mainly made this substitution just so I could drink more margaritas without feeling awful about the how rich they were. More margaritas for the win!

Today is Valentine’s Day so we decided on a theme that just screamed that to us so we each picked a chocolaty thing to share. And O.M.G. Amanda picked a kick ass Brownie Pudding. Seriously?? Seriously!!!

Chocolate Margaritas

Makes 4

Ingredients

To rim the glasses:

  • Chocolate syrup

Margarita:

  • 1/2 cup chocolate syrup
  • 1 cup tequila
  • 1 cup chocolate liqueur (recommended: Godiva)
  • 1/3 cup reduced fat milk
  • 1/3 cup orange liqueur
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • Ice

Garnish:

  • Mexican or Bittersweet Chocolate

Process

To rim the glasses:

Put the syrup on a plate and roll the rim of the margarita or martini glasses with the chocolate syrup. Set aside.

To make the Margaritas:

Mix all of the ingredients, except ice, in a pitcher. Working in 2-4 batches, transfer the mixture to a shaker full of ice. Shake to completely combine and chill. Pour into the prepared glasses. Grate the Mexican chocolate on top of the drink.

Spiced Black Bean, Grilled Avocado, and Goat Cheese Tacos- SRC

For my Secret Recipe Club post this month I had Melissa’s blog. She shares great sounding and looking recipes on her blog called Fried Ice and Donut Holes. While her blog is not a vegetarian blog she does have a great number of veggie friendly posts that look mouth watering. I have several recipes bookmarked for some healthy comfort food eating this fall and winter.

When it came time to pick a make a recipe I had a very hard time because I had a whole list of great things like, Barbecue Chicken Pizza, Baked Pumpkin Donuts, and Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Pot Pie. In the end I picked the Spiced Black Bean, Grilled Avocado, and Goat Cheese Tacos. I simply picked these tacos to make because I was having a crappy, super busy week. I had these bookmarked since I loved how they could be a great recipe to use when I didn’t feel like cooking. Well, that is exactly what happened. I had just about everything at home so I just ran out for an avocado and some wine (since I really needed that as well) and was quickly on my way to dinner once I got back home.

 

 

I made a few changes to the original recipe but I think you have to do what works best for you and you taste preferences/ingredients on hand/sanity. For example, I could not find coriander seeds at our grocery store so omitted them and decided to amp up the other flavors I did have. I switche using olive oil out for corn oil as corn has a more subtle flavor as a higher smoking point, which I figured would be best for the grilled avocados. I added some cilantro since I love it and always have it around (for us and the rabbits). I mashed my black beans as I like that texture and I figured that it would more easily stay in the taco to eat (while balancing a glass of wine on my lap and watching Parenthood). I really enjoyed these and since I typically have the ingredients around on hand I know I can always have a great dinner at the ready with some easy adaption.

Spiced Black Bean, Grilled Avocado, and Goat Cheese Tacos

makes 4 tacos

Ingredients

  • 1 (15 oz) can of black beans, preferably low sodium
  • 1 tablespoon corn oil
  • 1 tablespoon ground cumin
  • generous pinch of red pepper flakes
  • 1 avocado
  • 1 teaspoon corn oil
  • juice and zest from 1 lime
  • 2 teaspoons honey
  • salt and pepper
  • 2 oz from a goat cheese log
  • fresh cilantro
  • 4 Flour Tortillas or 8 Corn Tortillas

Process

  1. Rinse the black beans, reserve 1/2 cup of the liquids.
  2. In a small skillet, warm the corn oil over medium heat. Add the cumin and pepper flakes. Once the spices have ‘toasted’ and are fragrant, add the black beans and liquids. Cook for 5-10 minutes on medium-low heat to reduce the liquids. Prior to preparing the tacos, mash up the black beans with a potato masher.
  3. Cut the avocado in half, gently score to create slices, and brush with some oil. Put on a grill or grill pan on high heat just to char the outside of the avocado.
  4. In a small bowl, combine the juice and zest of 1 lime, the honey, and salt and pepper.
  5. To assemble the tacos, place 1/4 each of the beans, avocado, and goat cheese into 1 flour tortilla or 2 layered corn tortillas. To finish add fresh chopped cilantro and a drizzle the lime-honey mixture over the filling and serve

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Secret Recipe Club

Check out my previous Secret Recipe Club Posts:

August: Birthday Cake Oreo Truffles

July: Tropical Pork Pineapple Kebabs

June: Cheesy Garlic Knots

May: Berry Brownie Torte

April: Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream

March: Sauteed Green Beans with Lemon and Almonds

February: Fried Pickles

Jan: No SRC postings

December: Shrimp Sriracha Stir Fry

November: Vegetable Enchiladas

October: Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

Check out the rest of the reveal day posts!

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Thanks for visiting. Please leave me a comment to provide some feedback. I appreciate all the comments I receive.

Cranberry Ginger Margarita

Poe’s Kitchen at the Rattlesnake Bar and Grill is one of my favorite places to eat. Chef Brian Poe has transformed this bar and restaurant into a place that I actually want to go to. Prior to coming to the Rattlesnake the only reason to go was because of it’s roof deck, and since that was it’s only positive thing the line to get up there was maddening. Now, I don’t give a crap about the patio, I just want the food and drinks. We have been there for several birthday’s now, and  several ‘just because’ times. Just because I would like corn bread time. Just because I would like to go there for brunch, but incorrectly assume it opens at 11, and wait outside for 30 minutes time. Just because it’s Tuesday. (swoon)

When I saw a drink contest posted on their Facebook page, I knew I had to give it a try. I’ve spent the night making Cranberry Ginger Margatias for Price to try and give me feedback on. Such a difficult task!! ‘ Too Sweet” “Not enough tequila” “Needs lime?” “The sugar works, but…” So, I’m hoping that this recipe will make it into the top 3 for voting. Fingers crossed.


The first thing that came to mind was to make a margarita with cranberry juice. Why? Well why the hell not? But really it had everything to do with the upcoming season. The fall just screens cider and cranberries to me. Ruling apple juice/cider out I moved forward with the cranberry base. The second thing that came to mind was ginger. I have been on a major ginger kick this year, mainly making a lot of ginger infused simple syrup for seltzer. Instead of a ginger simple syrup, I decided to use Domaine de Canton, a French ginger liqueur. The combination of cranberry and ginger worked well, so full steam ahead. The rest fell into place- a gingered sugar for the rim, and a squeeze of lime to add tang.

The result is a margarita that has bite, since the cranberry brings acidity, much like the normal margarita. However, the sugar and liqueur bring some sweetnes, to cut the tartness. The Cranberry Ginger Margarita makes for a great fall cocktail because of it’s seasonal flavors. It can even been accessorized with some fangs for Halloween- this margarita has bite!

Cranberry Ginger Margarita

4 oz of cranberry juice cocktail
1 1/2 oz of tequila
2 oz of Domaine De Canton (ginger liqueur)
wedge of lime
cranberries (for garnish)
Sugar for the Rim
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground ginger

Prior to mixing the drink, combine the sugar and ginger on a plate to rim the glass. Wet the edge of the glass with water, drip into the sugar mixture, remove and let dry while mixing the drink.

Fill a glass half way with cubed ice, pour in the cranberry juice and add the cranberries. Add the tequila and Domaine De Canton. Squeeze the wedge of lime into the mix. Pour drink into rimmed glass.

Enjoy!