King Mushroom Taco filling

A nice substitute if you're craving chicken.
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A sweet onion, peeled and chopped
A head of garlic if you dare, peeled and mashed in a garlic press
    (2 or 3 cloves for the less garlic-minded)
4 or 5 large king oyster mushrooms (available at Chinese groceries)
2 zucchini
3 or 4 mild or slightly hot peppers (Anaheim, Hatch, poblano, even bell)
     roasted, peeled, and seeded

1 tsp chipotle en adobo, mashed
1/4 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp allspice

2 tbsp pumpkin seed (pepita) butter or finely ground pepitas
(Canadians: pumpkin seed butter is available at Bulk Barn in bulk for some reason!)

1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp canola or olive oil

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EITHER
4 tsp salt-free store-bought chili powder

OR
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tbsp ancho chile powder mild chile powder blend
dash oregano (mexican if available) or Italian herb blend
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2 cubes mock chicken bouillon or (preferably) 2 tsp Better than Bouillon No-Chicken

cilantro for garnish

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Heat oil on high; when quite hot add onions, garlic, chile powder and salt. Stir constantly until chili powder and salt are evenly coating onions. Turn down the heat to medium, and slow-sautee the onions until soft. (Soffrito style if you're Italian.)

Meanwhile slice the zucchini and mushrooms into thin half-disks. A mandoline slicer helps to make these thin and even.

When the onions are starting to get soft and sweet, add the mushrooms and zucchini. Stir. If you're not being too careful about salt, after the onions are coated with oil, a couple of dashes of soy sauce really help the mushrooms' flavour. Continue to slow-cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are cooked and the zucchini is getting translucent.

Clear a bit of the bottom of the pan, add 1/4 cup of broth or water and dissolve the bouillon into it. Add the other ingredients. Stir and cook another 10 minutes to blend flavours.

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TACOS

Add the mix to a corn tortilla. Garnish with vegan sour cream, marinated red onions, avocado slices, and pickled red onion. Add habanero salsa if you dare. Makes a spectacular taco.

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MOCK CHICKEN VERSION

You may wish to substitute mock chicken for the mushrooms or add mock chicken in addition to the mushrooms. In my experience, cooking mock chicken in a moist mixture (at least the kinds of mock chicken available in Canada) ruins the texture, so if you are doing that, sautee it in a separate small pan without any liquid just to heat through.

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TOMATILLOS

I really liked this version. In the past I have done similar dishes with some salsa verde or tomatillos, but I'm not sure about that anymore. Consider just bottled salsa verde as a condiment. If you like that, you can add tomatillos next time.

Red Lentil Carrot Soup

I was planning the usual red lentil and lemon soup, but my hostess asked me to use a few pounds of carrots. So the lemon is out, and this is what I came up with:

Carrot red lentil soup

3 or 4 lb carrots

2 large onions

5 cloves garlic

oil for sauteeing

Better than Bouillon No Chicken or other mock chicken bouillon

fresh ginger

fresh thyme

turmeric

cumin

black pepper

salt

Cut 3 or 4 lb peeled carrots into 2 or 3 inch pieces, and boil until soft enough to mash. (Keep the boiling water and remove carrots with slotted spoon)

Meanwhile slow sautee to lightly brown 2 large onions, finely chopped, with 5 cloves pressed garlic, a little salt, and 1/2 tsp turmeric, in as little oil as you can manage.

Peel and chop ginger, about 1 tbsp.

When the carrots are out of the water, add red lentils to the water and bring back to boiling. Lentils to water ratio about 1:4. Add the ginger. Add about 1 tbsp Better than Bouillon No Chicken base or other mock chicken flavour.

Coarsely mash the carrots with a potato masher.

When lentils are soft add onions and carrots. Add 1/2 tsp cumin and 1/2 tsp ground black pepper, or more, to taste. Add about 1 tsp fresh thyme. Cook to blend flavours.

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Makes a metric ton or so. Lots anyway, Freeze some.

Serve over grain or pasta. Quite nice.