Recipes: Cinco de Mayo Taco Feast

Posted by Claire Ragozzino

Around here, Cinco de Mayo means giant feast with all my favorite Mexican-inspired flavors. May 5th is also my good friend and neighbor’s birthday (her nickname is Cinco because of this – send her some birthday love!), so we have double the reason for a serious taco celebration! This year, I’ve pulled together for you a party of my favorite tried-and-true mostly raw, completely vegan taco filling recipes: a raw cacao molé, cabbage slaw with a creamy cumin-sunflower seed dressing, walnut-based taco meat, a spicy mango salsa, my go-to guacamole, and homemade quinoa tortillas.  Create a build-your-own taco bar and mix and match different combos of flavors to create your perfect taco.  Pictured above, I layered the molé with the taco meat, slaw, guacamole and salsa, but there are so many different ways to plate this taco, you can’t go wrong!

Quinoa Tortillas
4 cups quinoa flour
2 cups sprouted brown rice flour
1 tsp Himalayan pink salt
1 tsp olive oil
1 ¾ cup hot water

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Use your hands to mix and knead until you form a large ball of dough. If too dry, add a splash or two of water. If too wet, add more quinoa flour. Separate evenly into about 12 balls.

If you have a tortilla press, line with plastic wrap then place a single ball of dough in the center, press down to flatten then remove and carefully peel off the plastic wrap. If you do not have a press, place between two plastic wrap sheets on top a large cutting board and carefully roll the ball of dough out evenly using a rolling pin. Place the tortilla in an un-oiled, non-stick pan and cook for about 1 minute on each side on medium low heat. Repeat until complete. 

Note: These tortillas are heartier in texture than your average corn tortilla, but feels light and easy to digest.

Makes roughly 12 tortillas 

Raw Cacao Molé
2 dried chipotle chilies, soaked 2 hours
1 fresh Serrano chili, de-seeded & chopped
2 cloves garlic
1 small shallot
¼ cup sunflower seeds, soaked 4 hours
¼ cup almond butter
¾ cup raisins, soaked 1 hour
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp raw honey
½ cup water
½ cup raw cacao powder
1 tsp sweet chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp salt
pinch cayenne
black pepper, tt

Combine all ingredients in a high-speed blender. Blend until creamy and well combined. Transfer to an airtight glass container and store until ready to use.

Spicy Mango Tomatillo Salsa
2 anaheim peppers
2 jalapenos
2 poblano peppers
2 banana peppers
serrano pepper, deseeded
1 onion, sautéed
3 cloves garlic, diced & sautéed
1 medium mango, chopped
2 tomatillos, husks removed & diced
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
4 limes, juiced
3/4 tsp salt, or to taste

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Place one of each pepper on a baking sheet, bake until peppers are shriveled and brown – about 25 minutes. Meanwhile, heat 1 tsp olive oil in a pan.  Sauté onions and garlic together until opaque and fragrant. Transfer to a food processor. Add remaining raw peppers to the food processor along with lime juice, salt, cilantro, mango and tomatillos. Pulse until loosely combined. Remove the roasted peppers from the oven, remove stems.  Place in food processor with the rest of the salsa ingredients and pulse again into loosely chopped. Avoid over processing into a soup, you want salsa to have some texture. Transfer to an airtight glass container and store until ready to use.

Guacamole
4 avocados, pitted
1 small tomato, diced
3 limes, juiced
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 small clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground coriander
pinch cayenne
salt, to taste (about 1/4 tsp)

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. Use a fork to mash together lightly, leaving large chunks of avocado left for texture. Prepare this guacamole right before you’re ready to eat.

Walnut Taco “Meat”
1 cup walnuts or sunflower seeds
10 sundried tomatoes, soaked for 1-2 hours
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp chili powder
1 tbsp ground cumin
½ tsp ground coriander

In food processor, combine all ingredients and pulse several times until walnuts are broken down.

Mexican Slaw
2 cups shredded napa cabbage
½ cup shredded red cabbage
1 bunch cilantro, chopped

1 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup lime juice
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 cup water

To make the dressing, combine all ingredients in a high-speed blender and puree until creamy. Add the slaw veggies to a large bowl, then pour dressing over top the slaw mixture and toss until well combined.

 Need some music to dance to while cooking your Cinco de Mayo feast? Check out my playlist Kitchen Mixtape No 02. Salsa y Samba, an all across the board collection of my favorite latin-inspired songs from Buena Vista Social Club to Beny Moré to the Motorcycle Diaries soundtrack. I dig it, hope you do too! I also love to see your Vidya creations! If you’re on social media, post your taco feast photos and hashtag #vidyablog to share.  Happy 5th! xo

PS – There’s still space in my June Detox + Yoga retreat in Costa Rica! Join me for delicious plant-based meals just like this post today, along with daily superfood juices, smoothies and soul-nourishing yoga. For more info on our daily schedule, rates and registration details, click here.