Vegan Butternut Squash Chorizo Tacos

And bonus, a delicious vegan chocolate cake

I haven’t posted a recipe for a while, but I’ve got a new one that I am excited to share. (If you haven’t tried my popular French Lentil Nirvana recipe, here is the link).

A few weeks ago, we had a dinner party, and the plan for the main dish was chipotle honey tacos (recipe from the New York Times), because when you have a lot of things to do, the slow cooker is your friend. Who am I kidding, the slow cooker is always your friend! Dessert was a blueberry swirl cheesecake (recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction) because having the dessert made the day before is one less thing to worry about on the day of the fete. Also, that cheesecake recipe is the best. Seriously. Trust me.

I had forgotten to check about dietary restrictions, so two days before, when I finally asked, I learned that two of my guests were vegan. The couple actually volunteered to bring their own food, which made me sad because I’m guessing that must have come up previously. I firmly believe the job of the host is to meet the needs of your guests, because your guests are gifting you with their presence. I assured them that I would have vegan food.

While I only eat red meat about once a month and pork even less, I eat a lot of chicken as well as fish. For the sake of the planet and my own health, I’m trying to eat less meat and more fish and plant protein, as well as up my vegetable diversity. I have a salad for lunch every day during the week, but 5 days of tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce, while good for me, isn’t exactly exploring the vegetable multiverse. Which is a long way of saying, not only did I want my guests to feel cared for, I wanted the challenge of making a vegan meal that I could put in the rotation. Look, with enough pork fat, cream, or butter you can make anything taste good, so I also think of vegan cooking as challenge.

I was making black beans, but honestly, that’s not enough for tacos. What else to serve? Somehow I got it into my head that squash and chorizo were a good combination, and so I figured there must be some kind of vegan chorizo substitute. I live in Northern California, so this was easy to find.

I used Adobo Mexican Crumbles, by hodo (link here, not an ad, it’s just what they had at the store). Having no idea how spicy this would be or even what it would taste like, I decided to roast the squash with some chili pepper and cumin. If the crumbles were really spicy, I didn’t think that would push it over the edge, and if they were not very spicy at all, at least the squash would have some flavor.

It definitely needed an avocado crema. The additional color would make it look more appetizing in case the crumbles were an unfortunate shade of gray, and the acidity would help round out the flavor. I used a plant-based sour cream.

I made the dish in the morning, so if it was a disaster I had time to enact my Plan B, which I didn’t actually have yet. It turns out, I didn’t need a backup…I was thrilled with the taste! When the guests arrived, I just reheated it in the microwave, and whipped up the crema and we were good to go. It was a hit. Everyone at the party had some. I’ve made it again since, and it is fast (about 35 minutes from start to finish) and flavorful. I think it would also work well as a vegan side dish at Thanksgiving. I made it this week and used some leftovers today as a base for a roasted veggie salad. I threw in some roasted cauliflower from last night, cherry tomatoes, and feta, and it was a fantastic lunch (not vegan anymore, but obviously, you could swap the feta for tofu or vegan cheese).

Recipe for Vegan Butternut Squash Chorizo Tacos

Ingredients

• 2 butternut squash, peeled and cubed (1-inch size-ish)

• 2 white onions, diced

• ¼ cup plus 2 tbsp olive oil

• 1 ½ tsp chili powder

• 1 tsp salt

• 1 tsp cumin (freshly ground if you have it)

• 1 package of Adobo Mexican Crumbles or other chorizo substitute.

• 1 avocado

• 3 limes

• ¼ cup plant-based sour cream

• ½ bunch cilantro

• Salt to taste

• Tortillas (I used a corn-flour tortilla)

• Vegan queso fresco (if desired)

Instructions

1. Preheat the over to 400 F and line a baking pan with aluminum foil.

2. Combine the cubed squash, chili powder, cumin, salt, and ¼ cup olive oil; give it a good stir so the squash is well coated. Put the squash on the foil-covered pan and bake for 25 minutes.

3. Heat a Dutch oven or large sauté pan, add 1 tbsp oil, and when the oil is hot, add the onion and sauté on medium-low for 8-10 minutes. Push the onion to the edges and add the last tbsp of olive oil to the middle of the pan and then add the Mexican Crumbles, and break up and brown and then mix with the onion. Once the crumbles are brownish (they don’t brown like pork, but they change color somewhat) and heated through, you can turn the heat off or keep it on simmer.

4. When squash is done (it should pierce easily with a fork but not be mushy), add it to the onion/crumble mixture, heat through and mix well.

5. Make the crema (best to do right before serving, or as close to as possible). Mix the avocado, plant-based sour cream, ¼ tsp salt, juice of two limes, and cilantro to a food procedure or mix up with a hand blender. Depending on the size of your avocado and the juiciness of the limes, you may only need two limes or you may need to juice the third. Add more salt if needed.

6. Warm the tortillas.

7. Serve in a dish or right out of the Dutch oven. You can add vegan queso fresco if you like.

Added dessert bonus.

I wasn’t just going to make a vegan main course, I needed a vegan dessert as well!

I asked Twitter for a vegan cake recipe (while Twitter is imploding, crowd-sourcing recipes is still functional). I settled on a chocolate cake from Nora Cooks (here) and this icing from Blue Diamond (here). I wanted icing that uses vegan chocolate chips, and now I have one. Honestly, I didn’t know that vegan chocolate chips were even a thing, but the fat is cocoa butter instead of dairy, which makes total sense and they melted easily with no weird separation. To me, they taste pretty much the same as regular chocolate chips. This is one of those vegan substitutes you could start introducing with zero taste compromise.

The cake was also a hit. The texture was a little more brownie-like, but still delicious. I didn’t tell my kids it was vegan until AFTER they had eaten it, and both gave it two thumbs up.

The vegan menu for the party:

• Guacamole and chips

• Black beans

• Vegan butternut squash chorizo tacos

• Simple salad with a lemon vinaigrette.

• Chocolate cake

The tacos are now in the rotation, I will absolutely make the cake again, and 10/10 would make the squash tacos for a party, regardless of whether the guests are vegan or not.

Hope you give it a try!