With my book Ayurvedic Cooking For Beginners now available for pre-order, I promised in my last post that I’d post a few recipe excerpts and thought I’d start with the recipe on the cover, Cauli Tacos.
To make them more of a “Baja” Taco, break off the florets of cauliflower into bite-sized pieces, rinse, pat dry and then drop them into a bag with a few spoons of flour, which can of course be rice or coconut or your favorite gf. Give it a good shake and then sauté the florets until they brown.
Click to expand or to print.
I am sharing excerpts the publisher has released to me, so while this recipe references other recipes in the book – chapati, carrot pickle and avocado mash – until the book comes out, I hope it is easy for you to substitute with your own favorites. And when the book comes out, I hope you will enjoy these referenced recipes becaue the chapatis are fun to make, the pickle is quick, simple and so beneficial to digestion, and the avocado mash is easy to make and so creamy delicious.
Remember, you can pre-order the book now. That way you won’t forget – and it will arrive as a Valentine’s Day present. 💛 Thank you!
Laura! These look absolutely delicious! I have a cauliflower fresh from my CSA box & think I will whip these up for dinner. I am so excited for your book. <3
i hope you love them melissa. i am sure you will add your own inspiration and cooking wisdom to make them extra delicious. thank you and big hugs!
Laura, this makes my heart sing! Thank you for sharing your delicious wisdom!
Thank you Briana. Your heart is already a beautiful song. 💛
Yummmm! I’m anxiously looking forward to my reserved copy of your cookbook!!
Ah, thank you Rhonda!
I really can’t wait to check out your cookbook, Laura! These tacos look wonderful. The overall Baja vibe, avocado mash and mango cabbage salad are all right up my alley.
One question, how do you feel about the protein content of these tacos? For a full meal are the tacos filling enough on their own with the mash and cabbage salad, etc or would you suggest pairing them with a bean salad or something else?
hi katie, thanks for this great question. sure, a bean salad on the side is a great idea, something like your black bean salsa http://www.wholenourishment.net/blog/2014/05/beet-nachos.html would be heavenly with this. especially if it is served at lunch.
as you know, lunch is our biggest meal in ayurveda when there is more fire power to digest the heavier foods that are generally high in protein. in the book this recipe is suggested for dinner, which ayurveda suggests should be lighter – usually a vegetable soup, sauté, stew or simply steamed vegetables, often served with a roti or chapati. in this case the publishers wanted a chapter on “ayurvedic spins on popular mains,” thus this “taco,” which is almost a deconstructed cauliflower sauté with chapati.
as you know also, ayurveda is a medicine of wholeness, and does not speak in terms of isolates, so protein, carbs, even calories, is not in the ayurvedic lexicon. of course you also know that i feel committed to empowering people to move away from external determinations of nourishment based on isolates that can only be known through scientific study and experimentation which depends upon technical instrumentation, and instead to move towards the self-reliant, self-empowering knowledge that comes through our own direct experience, through our own instruments of knowing that are the five senses – in particular when it comes to food, our sense of taste.
all of this is in the book, including graphs and paragraphs on how to use the five senses/six tastes to create delicious, and perfectly balanced meals.
reflecting upon this topic, i know it is difficult to shift a paradigm, but once we are willing to return to our own instruments of knowing i think we find that it is not only profoundly liberating, but is itself a deep nourishment.
i know you know all this. i truly respect your deep wisdom and beautiful recipes, and am grateful for your question which inspired me to express more of the ayurvedic principles that went into the book, and this recipe. thank you!
Great response, thank you Laura! As I guide my clients through Intuitive Eating principles, I often fall back on the 5 senses/6 tastes you talk about to help them reconnect with their intuition and the satisfaction that is our life in food. I know your book will be a great guide for this. Good point that this is a lighter meal ideal for dinner.
On a separate note, I’ve been watching your cooking series on Gaia and I’m loving it! Well done!
Oh my gosh! The series is so Indian in its “look” but hopefully the message comes through. Everyone in the crew was wonderful and really worked hard on it.
You must be the most amazing, healing guide there is. Your clients are smart to pick you!
Thanks Katie 😍
Laura, thanks for this colorful recipe!!!
I can’t wait to read your book and try the recipes.
I love cooking my meals in advance (the evening before) and bring them in office; I’m sure I’ll find a lot of inspiration.
Love
thank you manu. i like to put kichari in a thermos for a “packed lumch.” i hope you find many recipes to inspire.