Foodie Friday meets Taco Tuesday and takes a turn to the Veg. side. Find step-by-step photo instructions below.

Kathy Whyte/ WNBF News
Kathy Whyte/ WNBF News
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Foodie Friday Gallery Recipe: Vegetarian Eggplant/ Mushroom Tacos (makes 8-10 tacos. Prep. time about 50 minutes* including knife-work)

1 baby eggplant (Japanese or any fancy variety), peeled and diced (about 1 1/2 C.)

Equal portion button mushrooms, quartered (about 1 1/2 C.)

1/2 medium yellow onion, diced

3 large cloves garlic, roughly chopped

1 tomato, cored and diced

1 Tb. Extra Virgin olive oil

pinch Kosher salt

packaged or homemade taco seasoning

soft tortillas or taco shells

shredded Mexican cheese blend

(desired toppings: shredded lettuce, avocado, black olives, salsa)

Prepare the vegetables and saute the eggplant, onion and garlic in olive oil over medium low heat for 5 minutes before adding mushrooms and sauteing for another 5 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 5-10 minutes until tomatoes break down and eggplant is nice and soft.  Cooking the eggplant slowly makes it tender and takes away possible bitterness.  You can cook it a little less if you want more of a bite.  Stir in the taco seasoning, homemade or packaged a little at a time at the end to adjust flavor and spice. Sprinkle with Kosher salt to taste. Want it hotter? Add in red pepper flakes, hot sauce, cayenne pepper powder, whatever you like.  Allow the mixture to simmer a little longer until most of the moisture (all of that coming from the eggplant, mushroom and tomato) is reduced and vegetable mixture is thick.  Assemble tacos and enjoy.

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Kathy Whyte/ WNBF News
Kathy Whyte/ WNBF News
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* I give the prep. time as almost an hour. That includes five minutes of saute time each for the eggplant, mushroom and the final addition of the tomato.  Aside from that, bear in mind, it takes me a little longer as I'm doing the recipes for you as I pause to take photos. So, my time may be a little off on the long side.  Either way, you can prepare this filling a day or more in advance and just warm it up when you are ready for Taco Night.

Foodie Friday Eggplant Mushroom Tacos

 

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