Tacos with roasted winter vegetables and red cabbage slaw

March 6, 2013 at 12:22 am (B_(3 stars, like), Root vegetables, Vegetable dishes, Website / blog, Winter recipes) (preschooler-approved)

My friend Jessica and I were trying to decide what to make for dinner.  I wanted to use up some red cabbage, so she picked out this very seasonal recipe for tacos with roasted winter vegetables and red cabbage slaw.  There are no corn tortillas here, so we had to use wheat tortillas, but otherwise we followed the recipe pretty closely.  In addition to the red onion, we roasted a mix of winter vegetables:  carrots, beets, parsnips, sweet potatoes, celery root, rutabaga, brussels sprouts, and cauliflower.  I checked the vegetables after 30 minutes and many of them were overcooked, especially the sprouts and cauliflower.  The carrots and beets were the least cooked.  The sweet potatoes were very soft, but pleasantly so.  (I don’t think you can overcook sweet potatoes.)

The recipe as written seemed like it would be just a tad bland, so Jessica made some guacamole to top our tacos with.  This resulted in a really nice balance of flavors:  the sweet, soft roasted vegetables (especially the onions and sweet potatoes and parsnips) contrasted nicely with the garlicky, rich guacamole and the tart, crunchy cabbage.  The slaw was very simple, but really tasty.  I’d make it again by itself sometime.

Even though these tacos have no beans in them, in many ways they reminded me of my black bean and sweet potato burritos.  Something about the combination of sweet roasted veggies with the savory guacamole. If you don’t have guacamole, probably the tacos would be good with just the pepitas (which we completely forgot to add) and a bit of feta.

Derek had some of the leftovers the next day for lunch, and also seemed to enjoy the tacos.  For lunch I had my “taco” without a tortilla, and liked it that way as well, although it definitely made a strange-looking lunch.   To serve this for company I think the tortillas are essential.

Rating: B+ (with the guacamole)

Update March 2019:

I made this dish tonight with roasted carrots, sweet potatoes, brussels sprouts, shiitakes, onions, and romanesco. It was a nice combination, but the shiitakes and brussels sprouts cooked fast so I had to take them out early. We ate it with avocado, leftover refried beans, salsa and broccoli sprouts (but forgot the pepitas). Everyone was happy, but Alma (at 4 years) wouldn’t try the cabbage slaw. Derek ate his without any tortillas and said it was good (not mind-blowing but very enjoyable). I liked the chile, cumin, oregano seasoning on the roasted veggies. I’d definitely make this again. It’s a good way to use up a little bit of leftover red cabbage and cilantro, plus whatever random roastable veggies are on hand.