Green Tacos

I'm obsessed with tacos. Tacos are such a great vehicle to combine a bunch of different ingredients into one concise bite. I pinned this recipe a long time ago and didn't look at the ingredients too closely -- be prepared because it's a long one. But there are steps that can be taken to make this easier for prep -- the sauce and the quick pickles can be made at least a day in advance. Despite what looks like a crazy amount of components, most of the ingredients are probably already in your pantry. For this we used parsley and cucumber from our CSA and jalapeños from our tiny patio garden.

The flavors in this were powerful and a perfect bite includes a little bit of everything. There's so much sweet, salty, and umami going on in this taco it really is quite good. I also appreciated the variety of textures in each bite of the taco. I thought each component offered something to the dish either through flavor or texture so I wouldn't change a thing. If you have leftovers they're probably best saved for another dinner because trying to transport all of these components to work for lunch is going to be a little much.

Recipe slightly adapted from Earthy Feast.

Ingredients:
Green Sauce
-1 poblano pepper, roasted with skins removed
-1 jalapeño, seeds and stem removed
-1 garlic clove
-1 bunch parsley
-1/4 cup of olive oil
-1 tablespoon rice vinegar
-1 teaspoon salt

Fried Tofu
-1 block of tofu (16 oz), drained and pressed, then cut into cubes
-Oil for frying
-3 tablespoons of soy sauce
-fresh ground pepper

Quick Pickles
-1 medium cucumber
-1 cup water
-1 tablespoon salt
-1/4 cup white vinegar
-1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

Blistered Snap Peas
-6 oz sugar snap peas
-1 tablespoon soy sauce

Honey Glazed Bok Choy
-3 baby bok choy, quartered
-1 tablespoon soy sauce
-1 teaspoon honey

For Serving
-1 avocado, sliced
-10 taco sized flour tortillas, warmed
-Optional garnishes: green onions and sesame seeds

Make ahead::

Green Sauce
Roast the poblano and jalapeno peppers under the broiler. When they are cool enough to touch, remove the skins, stems and seeds. Place all the roasted peppers, garlic, parsley, olive oil, rice vinegar, and salt into the food processor. Blend until smooth.

Quick Pickles
Thinly slice the cucumber and bring the water, salt, and white vinegar to a boil in a small saucepan. Once boiling add the sesame oil and pour over the cucumbers.

I made both the green sauce and the quick pickles the day before while making a more simple recipe for dinner and stored both in the fridge overnight.

Make To Serve:: 

You can multi-task with the Fried Tofu; Honey Glazed Bok Choy; and Blistered Snap Peas. You'll need a small non-stick skillet for the peas, a small non-stick skillet for the bok choy, and a large skillet for the tofu. You can totally use the same skillet for both the peas and the bok choy, if you take that route, do the peas first.

Fried Tofu
Heat the oil in a large skillet. Fry the tofu until golden brown on all sides. Toss with the soy sauce and pepper. Set aside.

Honey Glazed Bok Choy
Heat a small skillet and add the bok choy. Saute until bright green and then stir in the soy sauce and honey. Set aside.

Blistered Snap Peas
Heat a small skillet and add the snap peas. Stir for 3-5 minutes or until bright green and starting to blister. Toss with soy sauce. Set aside.

Tacos::
To serve the tacos layer the Honey Glazed Bok Choy and Blistered Snap Peas on the bottom of each taco shell. Top with the Fried Tofu and Quick Pickles. Finish each taco with the Green Sauce and avocado, then garnish with sesame seeds and green onions. Enjoy!