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One of my husband's favorite dishes in the world is fish tacos at Cabo restaurant in Houston. (I used to like their shrimp tacos.) My husband still goes back to Houston every three weeks or so, and he always goes back to Cabo. A few months ago, the bartender gave him a bag of the seasoning mix they use for the fish and shrimp tacos. And just a week ago, my husband' best friend in Houston sent him a huge bottle of Cabo hot sauce. So, of course, we had to make tacos as an excuse to eat the hot sauce.

(As a side note, the last meat I ate was shrimp last fall that my husband made using the Cabo seasoning mix.)

I made vegan tacos three ways: with tempeh (adapted from Veganomicon), with marinated cornmeal encrusted tofu, and with sautéed ground chickpeas and mushrooms. We had some meat-eating friends over for dinner to test out the different varieties. Between the eight of us sampling the tacos, the chickpea-mushroom mixture and the tempeh were the favorites. The tempeh tasted fantastic on its own, but we all pretty much preferred the chickpea-mushroom mixture as taco filling. It was tasty but allowed you to enjoy all the toppings without overpowering them.

The tofu was fine. It was just really bland, even though I marinated it all day. As such, it's probably great as an excuse to enjoy taco toppings. 

Vegan Cabo Tacos—prep time: 1 1/2 hours, plus at least 1 hour to marinate tempeh; serves 8

Ingredients

for the tempeh:

• 8 ounces tempeh (1 package)
• 3/4 cup beer
• 3 tablespoons canola oil
• 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• juice from 2 limes
• 1 tablespoon chipotle powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin

for the cilantro-lime sauce:

• 6 ounces plain non-dairy yogurt
• 2 tablespoon cilantro leaves
• juice from 2 limes
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• dash cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

for the rice:

• 2 cups basmati rice
• 3 cups water (or proper amount for your rice cooker)
• 2 cubes of vegetable bouillon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• dash cayenne pepper
• juice from 1 lime

for the chickpea-mushroom mixture:

• 1 can chickpeas, drained
• 12 ounces mushrooms, each cut into 4 pieces
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1/4 cup vermouth
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• juice from 1/2 lime

fixins:

• at least 16 tortillas
• 3 cups fresh spinach leaves
• 2 carrots, shredded
• 2 avocados, chopped
• 1 tomato, chopped
• 2 tablespoons cilantro leaves, chopped
• 6 ounces Tofu Rella cheddar cheese, grated
• Zukay salsa 

Directions

You'll want to start the tempeh early in the day to give it time to marinate. Slice tempeh in thin slices (whatever looks good to you). In a bowl, combine all other "for the tempeh" ingredients. Mix well. Add tempeh slices. Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour.

For the cilantro-lime sauce, combine all ingredients in a blender and blend well. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

For the rice, put all ingredients except lime juice in rice cooker or in pot on stove. Cook as usual. (My rice cooker takes about 45 minutes.) Mix thoroughly after cooking to blend in bouillon and spices. Stir in lime juice.

For the chickpea-mushroom mixture, place chickpeas in food processor and pulse briefly to grind. Remove and set aside. Place a third of the mushrooms in food processor and pulse briefly. Place in bowl with chickpeas. Pulse remaining mushrooms in two batches. Mix with chickpeas.

In a large skillet, sauté onions and garlic in oil over medium heat for about 8 minutes. Add vermouth. Cook a few minutes. Add chickpea-mushroom mixture. Stir in cumin and coriander. Cook for about 10 minutes. Stir in lime juice. Keep warm until ready to serve.

In a cast iron skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of canola oil over medium heat. Remove tempeh from marinade. Cook half of the tempeh for 5 minutes. Turn over and cook another 5 minutes, until both sides are browned. Remove to a plate and cook other half of tempeh.

Lay out tempeh, chickpea-mushroom mixture, tortillas, cilantro-lime sauce and remaining fixins. Let your guests make their own tacos. Serve with rice, lime slices and Corona.

Enjoy!