Earthy and umami filled tacos with green lentils and maitake mushrooms on corn tortillas topped with pickled purple cabbage, cilantro and garlic Greek yogurt!
You know how when sometimes, some ingredients inspire you to make something really amazing. These Green Lentils and Maitake Mushrooms Tacos were a product of one such inspiration and the ingredient was the beautifully gorgeous maitake mushrooms. I am not the greatest fan of mushrooms, so I mostly skip that section while browsing for produce at the grocery store. The other day I went to Whole Foods and could help but notice these gorgeous mushrooms. Even though I don’t like mushrooms a lot, I do love me some wild mushrooms and shitakes and maitakes. It is the regular button mushrooms that I cannot stand. These were expensive at $19.99 / lb but I still wanted to buy some, so I carefully weighed out ½ lb and brought them back home with me.
The mushrooms just by themselves were not enough to make a filling that will suffice all three of us for dinner, so I decided to add some “meat” to it and soaked and cooked some green lentils. That was one of the best decisions I made and the earthiness of the mushrooms and the lentils just blended in without being overpowering at all. I sauteed some cipollini onions and the mushrooms, added the cooked lentils, seasoned them with salt and black pepper and added just a dash of white wine vinegar for some oomph. That did the trick. It was a very flavorful and earthy taco filling and we all enjoyed it, including the little guy! After all, the “little dragons” love tacos too!
Look at that gorgeous looking maitakes!
Green Lentils and Maitake Mushroom Tacos – The Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ cup green lentils
- 2 cups water
- 1 tablespoon grapeseed oil
- ½ lb maitake mushrooms
- 1 cipollini onion, chopped
- salt, to taste
- black pepper
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp, minced cilantro
- 12-15 corn tortillas
For the pickled cabbage:
- 1 cup purple cabbage, thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- ½ teaspoon red chili flakes
For the garlic yogurt:
- ½ cup greek yogurt
- 2 tablespoon water
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- salt, to taste
Method:
Wash the lentils and cook them in the 2 cups of water, adding a little salt to it. It will take about 25 mins or so to cook.
Heat the oil in a saute pan and add the onions to it. Saute till they turn translucent and tear the mushrooms gently with your hand and add them to the pan. Saute for 2 mins. Add the cooked lentils, salt, pepper and white wine vinegar. Switch off heat and keep aside.
Mix the cabbage, white wine vinegar and red chili flakes and keep aside.
Thin the yogurt with the 2 tablespoon water, add the garlic powder and salt and mix well.
Warm the tortillas, top with some of the lentil mushroom mix, the pickled cabbage and a squeeze of the yogurt mix. Garnish with the minced cilantro and devour!
- ½ cup green lentils
- 2 cups water
- 1 tablespoon grapeseed oil
- ½ lb maitake mushrooms
- 1 cipollini onion, chopped
- salt, to taste
- black pepper
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp, minced cilantro
- 12-15 corn tortillas
- For the pickled cabbage:
- 1 cup purple cabbage, thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- ½ teaspoon red chili flakes
- For the garlic yogurt:
- ½ cup greek yogurt
- 2 tablespoon water
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- salt, to taste
- Wash the lentils and cook them in the 2 cups of water, adding a little salt to it. It will take about 25 mins or so to cook.
- Heat the oil in a saute pan and add the onions to it. Saute till they turn translucent and tear the mushrooms gently with your hand and add them to the pan. Saute for 2 mins. Add the cooked lentils, salt, pepper and white wine vinegar. Switch off heat and keep aside.
- Mix the cabbage, white wine vinegar and red chili flakes and keep aside.
- Thin the yogurt with the 2 tablespoon water, add the garlic powder and salt and mix well.
- Warm the tortillas, top with some of the lentil mushroom mix, the pickled cabbage and a squeeze of the yogurt mix. Garnish with the minced cilantro and devour!
Chelsea says
Yummy! Looks so delicious!
Quinn Caudill says
Coming to you from Blog Engagement/Promotion Group. Really like your blog. Pinned the recipe.
Sam @ Pixel Sprout says
Beautiful colors! This sounds so good. I'll be on the lookout for maitakes next time we're at the market. Great photos too!
Cookilicious says
wow..this looks good..liked your blog as well.. 🙂
Suzanne Spiegoski says
This looks so delicious! I love tacos and meat, but this vegetarian recipe makes me want to try it! I'm drooling over my keyboard as I type this! 😛
Stevie on the Move says
Mhhh, looks yummy! I have to try this! 🙂
Bree Hogan says
Looks so good! I love mushrooms and those maitakes look mouth-watering YUM!
Aida@TheCraftingFoodie says
These look so delicious! I love lentils, but I've never tried them in a taco .The mushroom and lentil combo looks killer. Plus your toppings sound so good, too. Love it!
Rosie from Blog To Taste says
What a great idea! I love unexpected combos like this- chinese tacos, bbq nachos, taco pizza- they are usually so good if you just give them a chance! Thanks for sharing!