Sometimes you need to eat a pretty vegetable to get yourself excited about cooking vegetables. These purple cauliflower tacos will certainly help! They feature a simple roasted cauliflower medley, chunky and smooth chipotle black beans, and guacamole.
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This is a sign to buy a vegetable that gets you excited about vegetables.
Yes, this purple cauliflower looks like alien food, but once I saw it at the farmers’ market last weekend, I knew I had to get it. It spoke to me. So I turned it into purple cauliflower tacos. I got lots of wonderful suggestions on Instagram about what to do with them, from parathas to wings. I’ve been on a Mexican cuisine kick though, so these tacos felt fitting.
How to Make These Cauliflower Tacos
Roast cauliflower. I figured the best way to honor the simplicity of this vegetable is just roast it with olive oil, salt, and pepper. It will lose vibrancy a little, but it will still be beautiful! The other elements of this recipe are where I got a bit more creative.
Cook the black beans. For the black beans, I cooked them with a bay leaf, cumin seeds, onions, and garlic. If you don’t have a bay leaf, you can omit it. If you don’t have cumin seeds. You can add ground cumin after adding the garlic to the pan.
To make the “chunky and smooth” style, process half the black beans with a chipotle pepper in adobo sauce and lime juice. The smooth variety is soooo good with the chunky black beans!
Mix together the guacamole. For the guac, yes I could make the same guac I’ve made a million times, but these tacos have PURPLE CAULIFLOWER so I couldn’t. I blistered a serrano pepper over a flame, chopped it up, and put it together with smashed avocado, tomato, cilantro, lime juice, and salt. It’s the perfect topping for the tacos!
Purple Cauliflower Tacos
Ingredients
- 8 4.5" tortillas
roasted cauliflower
- 1 small purple cauliflower, cut into bite-size florets
- 1 small white cauliflower, cut into bite-size florets
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- ½ tsp sea salt *adjust depending on how much cauliflower you have!
- ½ tsp black pepper *adjust depending on how much cauliflower you have!
chunky and smooth chipotle black beans
- 1 tbsp avocado oil or neutral oil
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 bay leaf
- ½ red onion, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- ½ tsp salt
- 400 g canned black beans (1 15 oz. can)
- 1 tsp lime zest (~ ½ lime)
- 1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
- 1 tbsp adobo sauce
- ½ tbsp lime juice (~ ½ lime)
guacamole
- 1 serrano pepper
- 1.5 avocado (round up to 2 if you're annoyed that you have a leftover half lol)
- ½ medium tomato, chopped
- ¼ cup cilantro
- ½ tbsp lime juice
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Roast cauliflower. Preheat the oven to 425 F. Toss the chopped cauliflower onto a baking sheet with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast for 20 minutes. Flip and roast for 5 more minutes.
- Cook the black beans. Heat 1 tbsp avocado oil in a medium pan over medium heat. When the oil is hot, fry cumin seeds and bay leaf for 1 minute. Add onions and cook until translucent, which should take 4-5 minutes. Add garlic and salt. Cook for 2 minutes. Drain the liquid from the canned black beans and add black beans and lime zest. Let the beans cook for up to 10 minutes. Taste for salt.
- Make the smooth black beans. Add half of the cooked black beans to a blender with a chipotle pepper, adobo sauce, lime juice, and about ¼ cup water. Process until mostly smooth.
- Prepare guacamole. Heat a serrano pepper in a pan on high heat or hold it directly over the stove flame using tongs. Heat it until charred and slightly blistered, which should take about 10 minutes. Chop the pepper. Smash the avocado in a bowl. Add tomato, cilantro, and the chopped serrano pepper. Add lime juice and salt to taste.
- To assemble: Heat tortillas on a pan. Add chunky black beans, smooth black beans, and roasted cauliflower. Finish with a spoonful of guacamole. Garnish with cilantro.
If you enjoy these purple cauliflower tacos, you may also enjoy…
Jackfruit Burrito Bowls with Pineapple Salsa
Hummus Quesadilla: Hummusadilla
