recipe of the week: SOY PROTEIN TACOS

Each week during Veggie Vebruary, we’re spotlighting a simple, high-protein, meatless recipe for you to try. While this recipe requires a NYT Cooking subscription and is a little more involved than our other Veggie Vebruary recipes, it’s easy to make a tasty soy protein taco filling WITHOUT a recipe—see our instructions at the bottom.

Tofu turns some people off because it can be bland, but the preparation called for in this crispy tofu taco recipe from NYT Cooking is totally different. Once grated and roasted with olive oil, tomato paste, soy sauce and spices, the tofu transforms into an addictive taco filling. The combination of textures—from the crispy tofu to the creamy sauce, to the tangy onions, to the bright flavor of cilantro—results in a delectable meal. And the range of toppings raises the appeal for kids as well.

As with all of Meat Me In The Middle’s Veggie Vebruary recipes, this one has plenty of protein (19 grams per serving), it’s pretty straightforward, and I’ve personally tried it, not only once but twice! Even my carnivorous brother, who dropped in unexpectedly for dinner, had to concede it was so good he wanted the recipe.

The recipe calls for two blocks of tofu but for six people I used three blocks of Trader Joe’s high-protein, extra-firm organic tofu. However, since increasing the other ingredients by one third seemed complicated, I just doubled everything else. There weren’t a lot of leftovers with two men and three teen/tween boys! This required three sheet pans for roasting the tofu and I lined them all with foil to make cleanup easier.

The recipe says to drizzle the tomato paste/oil mixture over the tofu but drizzling wasn’t an option because it was so thick. I added a bit more oil as a result and kind of plopped the mixture here and there over the tofu; it worked out fine.

As for the avocado cream, I skimped on it a little the first time I made the recipe. That’s a mistake: this is the key ingredient so be sure to make ample sauce. I used a smoothie blender and it was done in 30 seconds.

I’m not a fan of raw onions so I threw them in a little pan with just a little apple cider vinegar and cooked them for 10 minutes. The result was fantastic! I skipped the radishes because I didn’t have any, but made rice and refried beans for additional toppings, which my kids appreciated. I also put salsa on the table, as well as fresh tomatoes. Don’t forget that cilantro stems are as wonderful as leaves, a fact that I learned way too late in life. For the tortillas, my family loves Trader Joe’s cilantro-lime ones, which we warm in the microwave.

Although my weight-lifting son at first pleaded with me to use beef instead of tofu, he did ultimately eat the meal with relish. Exposing my family to delicious meatless meals now and then reminds us all how satisfying this kind of food can be. And finding such pleasurable ways to reduce our carbon emissions (because animal agriculture contributes more than crop agriculture to the pollution that is overheating our planet) is icing on the cake… er, cilantro on the tortilla!

To make this recipe a little simpler, you can pick up premixed taco seasoning at a 20% discount at Maplewood’s Good Bottle Refill Shop, from Wed. Feb. 25 through Sun. Mar. 1. Visit the store in person for this discount, and bring a little jar or other reusable container to avoid packaging waste!

If you want to post about making this recipe on social media, tag @mmitm_project (Instagram) or @mmitm.project (Facebook) and let us know how it went! #VeggieVebruary

And visit the Veggie Vebruary page for all our Recipes of the Week.

how to make soy protein tacos without a recipe

While the NYT Cooking recipe requires a subscription, it’s easy to make a similar soy protein taco filling WITHOUT a recipe!

Grate a 14- to 16-ounce block of superfirm tofu or pressed extra-firm tofu. Mix the tofu with a couple tablespoons of olive oil, a tablespoon of soy sauce or tamari, a couple tablespoons of tomato paste, and at least 3 tablespoons of taco seasoning mix (homemade or purchased). Either cook the seasoned tofu in a skillet over medium heat, or roast it on a sheet pan in a 400-degree oven, until it darkens and crisps somewhat. Place the filling in tortillas with your favorite taco toppings.