Vegan pumpkin shiitake tacos combine creamy pumpkin and earthy shiitake mushrooms with a crunchy-creamy lime slaw and perfectly spiced pumpkin seeds. This healthy recipe is done in 40 minutes flat!
There are so many beautiful things happening this Tuesday morning including the beauty of these tacos!
Before we get to all the other good and wonderful there is one very sad thing, a very very sad thing that is keeping me down; I forgot to take home Thanksgiving leftovers. I know, this is devastating.
My Mom is the queen of Thanksgiving dinner and usually, I am able to stay home for several days after the holiday to indulge in my fair share of turkey sandwiches on homemade biscuits with the world's best stuffing! And enjoy several random bowls of cranberry chutney (I think perhaps my favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner is my Mom's cranberry chutney). This year, I had to head back to the city the very next day to finish a mountain of schoolwork, and in my jet lag stupor and rushing chaos, I FORGOT to take home any food!
The saddest part of this story is that I was feeling pretty awful on Thanksgiving day. I had a horrible case of jet lag, having landed back in NYC less than 24 hours earlier and enduring a 22+ hour flight home, plus something I ate in my travels was doing all kinds of acrobats in my stomach. Not fun. I ate about 3 nibbles of turkey on Thanksgiving and then politely pushed my plate away. So so so so sad!
You would think that by now, a solid 5 days later, I would just let it go and move on. Nope. I wake up every morning thinking, “What is wrong with me!?”.
So that's the sad news, but there is still lot's of good:
**I had the most incredible adventure in Bali the week before Thanksgiving, I am still all glowy thinking about it.
**I am mostly caught up on my mountain of schoolwork and I can see a solid 3-week break from school in my very near future. Much needed.
**I am so excited to get back to seeing clients today, I love traveling but I don't like feeling disconnected from my clients while I am away. A few times a year it's important for me to take a full break from work, but it always feels so good to get back into it.
**I had the best homecoming ever with Penelope Pancake and Jordan. First of all, when I finally landed in JFK at like 1am (sans bag… oh the traveling drama! You guys, that's for another post!) I was starving! Like crazy starving, I texted Jordan on my 35-minute layover in Shanghai, all the random food I was craving, (BTW…I was the ONLY person out of 5 people from my connecting flight that made the 35-minute transfer #travelninja). I walked in the door at like close to 3 am and Jordan had cooked everything I asked for! A huge salad with farmers market greens and a super garlicky vinegary dressing and the most delicious grass-fed burger with sautéed onions. Yes, I had just returned from a week of raw vegan food and I wanted a burger! He even had a fresh towel and washcloth laid out for me hotel style. So sweet I could die. That salad, burger, and shower were all so perfectly nourishing. On top of all the love, I got to snuggle my pup, mush style, for the next 5 days. So much beauty, so much love!
All the love, all the beauty and now these tacos. It's almost too much to handle!
Creamy pumpkin and earthy shiitake mushrooms are so incredibly gorgeous together and I am purposefully sharing this recipe AFTER Thanksgiving because I am heading up a campaign to keep pumpkin around longer. I am. I am. As I mentioned in my riveting love letter to pumpkin last month ;-0 this winter squash should be celebrated all winter, not just in fall!
Although the recipe looks as if it has a lot of steps it is quite simple and done in 40 minutes flat! Lay out all of your colorful taco toppings and get to work, building a flavor explosion of goodness. For realz.
Yes, I am all about these tacos and you should be too. They will be your new favorite. I just know it!
If you can't find shiitake mushrooms near you, you can easily replace them with cremini or portobello mushrooms.
The creamy slaw is made with vegenaise, my favorite vegan mayonnaise, but if you aren't vegan you can use a high-quality non-vegan mayo. And that's pretty much it. Simple ingredients, lots of beauty and love and you've got dinner. Or lunch. Or breakfast 😉
Thanks for reading Abra's Kitchen! To see what goodness I'm whipping up be sure to follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. If you make this recipe tag #abraskitchen on Instagram so I can see your creation 🙂
Nutritional information below is for one taco.
Vegan Pumpkin Shiitake Tacos
Ingredients
- 1 small pie pumpkin
- 1 lb. shiitake mushrooms
- 1 large green pepper sliced in strips
- 1 large onion sliced in half moon
- 3 cloves garlic chopped
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1 tsp chili powder
- sprinkle of salt and pepper
- 10 corn tortillas
Slaw
- 2 cups shredded red cabbage
- juice of 1 lime
- 2 tbsp vegenaise
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Spiced Pumpkin seeds (optional)
- seeds from one small pie pumpkin
- 1 tsp coconut oil
- 1/4 tsp chili powder
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp coconut palm sugar
- pinch of cayenne pepper
Toppings
- fresh cilantro
- sliced jalapeno
- lime wedges
- spiced pumpkin seeds
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°
- Slice open pumpkin, scoop out seeds and set aside. Season the inside of the pumpkin with olive oil, salt and pepper and roast in oven for 40 minutes. Remove from oven and when cool enough to handle dice into bite size pieces. I kept the skin on (I actually love the texture of the skin) alternatively you can remove the skin. You will need about 2 cups of diced pumpkin for the tacos.
- In the meantime prepare shiitake mushrooms by removing stems. Drizzle 1 tbsp olive oil on a large sheet tray and arrange mushrooms in a single layer. Sprinkle with 1/4 tsp sea salt and 1/4 tsp black pepper. Roast for 10 minutes (in 350° oven, I roast them while the pumpkin is roasting), remove from oven, flip mushrooms and roast for additional 10 minutes.
- While pumpkin and mushrooms are roasting prepare onion pepper mixture. In a large skillet over medium high heat saute onion and pepper in olive oil for 5 minutes or until tender. Add a little bit of water if more liquid is needed. Add chili powder, salt and pepper stir well to combine
Slaw
- Combine vegenaise, lime juice, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Whisk well to combine. Toss with cabbage, set aside.
Spiced pumpkin seeds
- Wash seeds and spread out in a single layer on a cookie sheet lined with a kitchen towel. Dry thoroughly (alternatively leave the seeds out in open air overnight to dry). When dry toss with melted coconut oil and spices. Roast in 350° oven for 10 minutes. Store in an airtight container for up to one week.
Assembly
- Toast corn tortillas over an open flame, lay tortillas flat and top with onion pepper mixture, pumpkin, and shiitake mushrooms. Top with a bit of slaw, sliced jalapeno, fresh cilantro, pumpkin seeds, and a squeeze of lime juice.
Vincent says
These tacos are so good that I don’t miss the meat.