vegetarian tacos

Summer is in full swing in San Francisco.  The drizzle has started, the days-long fog, the bracing wind; it has arrived and is here to stay for awhile.  Luckily, before too awful long, we will have our coveted Indian Summer, warm and sunny September and October days.  But until then, we San Franciscans act like it is winter.  We go to the museums and cafes dressed in our chunky sweaters and scarves.   The parks are quiet, but for the few dedicated souls determined to barbeque in the fog.  We gather together for warming drinks and comforting foods. 

While comfort foods can often be centered around meat (things like pot roast, meatloaf, casseroles),  sometimes it is nice to have a meatless meal.  One particularly cold and foggy evening, I decided to take something simultaneously comforting (roasted veggies) and summery (tacos) in one meal and combine them in a deliciously vegetarian meal.  It is a perfect way to celebrate the San Francisco summer.

Vegetarian Tacos

(makes about 8 tacos)

1/2 yellow onion, julienned 

1/2 T butter

1 chayote squash, diced

1 yellow neck squash, diced 

1 can black beans

1 can chipotle in adobo

1 lime

2 ears of fresh sweet corn, shucked and cut off of the ear (or about 1 cup frozen)

1 T olive oil

1 red bell pepper 

1 avocado, sliced

1/2 c. cilantro, chopped

1/2 c. cotija cheese, crumbled

8 tortillas

Caramelize the onions in a saute pan with the butter.  Cook on low heat, stirring often until onions are evenly brown and soft. Season with a pinch of salt.

Meanwhile, toss together the diced squashes, olive oil, and a pinch of salt and roast in a 400F oven until soft and lightly browned on the edges, about 7-10 minutes.

Rinse the beans and add to a small saucepan along with your corn, 2 T adobo sauce from the chipotle can, juice of the lime, and salt, to taste.  Add the caramelized onions to this mixture when they are complete. 

Char the red pepper in the oven (400F) or using the open flame of your stove until the entire skin is black.  Place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  This will steam the pepper a bit and allow the skin to come off easily.  Remove the stem and seeds and dice the pepper.

Toss pepper with the roasted squash mixture. 

Assemble your tacos:  Heat the tortillas in a saute pan or on a griddle on a medium flame, flipping the tortillas to evenly heat each side.  Fill tortillas with the squash mixture and bean mixture.  Top with cilantro, cotija and sliced avocado.  Add a squeeze of lime if you like.  

Tricks and Tips: 

If you would like the beans a bit spicier, dice up a bit of the chipotle peppers and add them to the mixture.

To easily shuck corn, roast it on your BBQ or open flame of your stove until the husk is black.  This steams the corn and allows the husk and silk to come off easily.

When taking the skin off of the charred bell pepper, try to avoid running under water.  This will rinse away a lot of those great flavors you worked hard to create.  Instead, try using a paper towel to rub the skin away. 

it's fig season!

A handful of years ago, after probably too many drinks in a Seattle bar, I had a realization: "Damn!  It's fig season!" I exclaimed, much to the amusement of my friends.  Never-mind the snickers at my enthusiastic blurting, I was making a mental note to get to the Farmer's Market the next morning.

Each summer since, at first sight of figs in the grocery or Farmer's Market, I often think "Damn! It's fig season!" -  accompanied by a little giggle.  Then I promptly buy up a basket or three and take them home for snacking, baking, or experimenting.

Fig milkshakes, fig appetizers, fig preserves, fig cake, fig salads... it is all delicious.  I think my fascination with figs stems from that fact that they are only seasonally available.  We live in a time when apples, tomatoes, brussels sprouts, and green beans can be found in the grocery year-round;  It is hard to remember what season each item of produce is at it's peak.  Figs, however, have amazingly remained seasonal (and more local) in the grocery.  With the limited window of availability, I must maximize my time with them when summer rolls around. 

While in high school I ate Fig Newtons like crazy.  I justified them as breakfast (they are fruit and cereal based, after all!), snacked on them before track practice, and ate them with vanilla ice cream for dessert (Have you ever had an ice cream sandwich made of Newtons?  No?  Do it.  Trust me.).  During this time, I was also very interested in baking and trying to reverse engineer products in the marketplace; surely my start as a food scientist.  Fig Newtons were one of the items I created, quite successfully.  However, I haven't made them since.

But when I was at the grocery the other day and spotted those awesome first figs, I was instantly inspired to make figgy newtons.  If you are like me, though, you have been eating your figs with your granola in the morning and with blue cheese at happy hour, so you don't have many left.   Not to worry, this recipe has a combination of fresh (if you can spare!) and dried figs leftover from the winter's ration.

Figgy Newtons

makes approximately 30 cookies 

Dough:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1/4 tsp. salt

1 whole egg 

1 egg white 

1/2 tsp. vanilla 

21/2 cups oat flour

Cream together butter and sugar and salt.  

Add eggs and vanilla.  Mix until blended. 

Add oat flour and mix until combined.  

Form dough into a disc and wrap in plastic wrap.  

Place in the refrigerator 2 hours, or until chilled.  

If you are impatient, like me, put it in the freezer for 30 minutes or so.

Filling:

1 cup dried figs, quartered and stems removed

1 cup water 

zest and juice of half a lemon

1 cup fresh figs, quartered and stems removed

In a small sauce pan, combine the dried figs and water.  

Let simmer until figs are soft and water is gone.  Add more water if needed to further soften the figs.

Add fresh figs, lemon juice and zest.

Puree in a blender or use an immersion blender if you have one.  

Let chill before using. 

Assembly:

Dust your work surface with flour.

(I found it helpful to work on a piece of parchment for easy transfer to a sheet pan for chilling).

Roll dough out into a 1/4" thick rectangle, at least 9" wide.

Cut rectangle into strips that are about 3 inches wide.

Place fig paste down the center of the dough strips. 

Chill dough. 

Bring sides of dough up around fig paste and seal at the seam, pinching together any cracks.

Chill dough. 

Flip the strips over, seam side down, and cut into cookies about 11/2 - 2 inches in length. 

Place on parchment-lined baking sheet. 

Bake at 350'F for about 15 minutes, or until lightly browned and doesn't give when touched.

Store airtight.

Tricks and Tips:

While they seem complicated, the figgy newtons are quite easy to make.

This dough is super soft.  It helps to work with lots of dusting flour and continually chilling the dough.

To help make these cookies easier on my tummy, I made the dough with all oat flour.  If you want to use wheat flour, substitute all purpose straight across.  Or use a combination of 1cup whole wheat flour, 11/2 cups all purpose flour.  I haven't tested this with wheat flour, so do so at your own risk.  The oat is really nutty and delicious, I promise! 

The filling is pretty thick and can be challenging to blend.  Don't be discouraged, though.  Just blend a bit, loosen the big pieces with a spoon and blend again.

However, if you find it really too tough to blend and you want to give up: don't!  Just add some more water until you are able to blend, then cook the paste until that water has evaporated and you have a thicker paste again.

I purposely made the filling without added sugar, but if you find you like your cookies a bit sweeter, add a couple of tablespoons of sugar, or to taste.

When cutting the strips into cookies, it helps to cut when the dough has just been chilled.

The cookies are best the next day, once they have been allowed to soften a bit.  But they are also really good straight out of the oven with a little vanilla ice cream!