Roasted Cauliflower Tacos with Avocado Chimichurri Sauce
Green up your tacos with spinach tortillas deliciously loaded with roasted cauliflower, bright mango, shredded cabbage, and an herbasceous avocado chimichurri sauce.
Can you believe we’ve already slid our way into March? Sláinte, everyone! Spring is already unfolding with buds, leaves, and layers of green.
St. Patrick’s Day falls on a Tuesday this year—a clear invitation to celebrate GREEN Taco Tuesday style. Cauliflower works superbly as a taco filling—you can crumble and toast it with walnuts and seasonings for a somewhat “meaty” texture and nuttiness, rice it and pair with other hearty components, or simply roast the florets and enjoy infinite variety with all sorts of other plantbased components and zesty sauces. Here, roasted florets, mango, and cabbage work wonderfully together whether drizzled, smothered, or anything in between, with a creamy, savory avocado chimichurri sauce.
Making these Tacos a Celebration of Green
For me, the avocado chimichurri is the key component here. It blends a punchy, herb-forward soul with the luxurious creaminess of just-right ripe avocado. While a traditional chimichurri is thin and oily, this version boasts a velvety, spreadable texture that really brings the filling together—and bonus, it’s oil-free!
Fresh parsley and cilantro, tangy vinegar, garlic, smoked paprika, avocado, and lime meld together with explosive flavor. The communal sharpness is mellowed out by the buttery rich avocado. Plus, with all that flavor you’re getting a solid injection of heart-healthy fats, fiber, and micronutrients like Vitamin K, folate, and potassium.
In terms of the spinach tortillas, I’ll be honest: I went with them for the go-big green effect foremost. I’m not sure they really lended a whole lot outside of color as a whole, but that could be largely owing to the process I went through with them (more on that in a moment). You can absolutely sub in your favorite plain, whole wheat, gluten-free, or other tortillas. You can even skip the hand holds altogether—the ingredients work brilliantly as a bowl.
As I’ve been mentioning lately, I’ve been consciously reducing oil since taking the Forks Over Knives Ultimate Cooking Course. Not that we were greasing it up before; but lately, I’ve kind of reveled in seeing how far I can go in eliminating processed oils completely. Some might say it’s been a bit of overkill. Had you been at our house when I made round one of homemade spinach torillas, you would have been one of them.
If you’ve tried this version of cauliflower tacos with mango salsa, you’ll know that I discovered how easy and straightforward it is to make your own tortillas with glee. This is true—and the results are worth it! So I thought, why not cut out the oil like this super recipe from A Plantiful Path does, but also blend fresh spinach into the warm water? Well, my ingenious idea did not translate to the plate. The results tasted like I imagine baked playdough would were it somehow able to remain pliable. Straight to compost, sadly.
Round two, I went with these yummy homemade spinach tortillas from The Conscious Plant Kitchen—turns out, just a little olive oil makes all the difference. Next time I may try going with this fantastic recipe from Elavegan. Chickpea flour is so perfectly suited to tortillas, much like it is for vegan omelettes. My only concern this time was that they might not feel durable enough for the fillings.
As always, whatever you do, make it you. Get creative, experiment, trust the messiness to be delicious. Happy Taco Tuesday -St. Paddy’s Day-March-Spring! Enjoy! xo
Roasted Cauliflower Tacos with Avocado Chimichurri Sauce
Green up your tacos with spinach tortillas deliciously loaded with roasted cauliflower, bright mango, shredded cabbage, and an herbasceous avocado chimichurri sauce!
Ingredients
- 1 head cauliflower
- 1/2 Teaspoon garlic salt, or to taste
- 4 Cups shredded green cabbage or cabbage slaw
- 1 mango, peeled and diced
- 1 batch avocado chimichurri sauce (below)
- 8 spinach tortillas (more or less depending on size--see recommendations for homemade in notes)
- 1 Cup parsley
- ½ Cup cilantro
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 Teaspoon smoked paptrika
- Juice of ½ lime (about 1 Tablespoon)
- 1 medium ripe avocado, flesh
- Sea salt to taste
- ¼ Cup apple cider vinegar
- Water to thin, as needed
Instructions
- Roast the cauliflower: Preheat oven to 425 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Cut the cauliflower into florets and place on the baking sheet. Spray lightly with cooking spray (or with a little lime juice for oil-free) and sprinkle with garlic salt. Toss to coat evenly.
- Place in the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until browned and crispy to taste, flipping halfway.
- While the cauliflower is roasting, prepare the chimichurri sauce: Add all of the ingredients to a high-speed blender (except water) and blend until fully combined. Taste and season further with salt or lime juice if desired. Add water as needed to thin.
- Just before serving, warm your tortillas in the oven. Fill each with cauliflower, mango, and cabbage. Top generously with chimichurri sauce. Serve with additional garnishes or salsa if desired, and enjoy!
Notes
Want to make your own tortillas? Try these yummy homemade spinach tortillas from The Conscious Plant Kitchen or this fantastic gluten-free recipe from Elavegan.