My first encounter with tacos was in a restaurant which specializes in waffles and pancakes. I was a kid then and was so amazed with eating such a crispy sandwich. That was what I thought then. I was told that the taco originated in Mexico in the 18th century. Later on travelling, I got introduced to flat bread sandwiches served by food kiosks. The ones I’ve had are shwarma in Bahrain, nan and chapatti in India, and pita in Greece. I will have them anytime, filled with different things. Flatbread sandwiches have evolved today and are alternatively called soft tacos. Now, I prefer soft tacos because they are less messy to eat.
Today’s featured dish is Rainbow Tacos. Why rainbow? Well, some give rainbow tacos that name because the taco shell itself has food coloring like a rainbow. I chose to call my recipe Rainbow Taco because the filling of each soft flatbread taco are a myriad of vegan colors – green herbs, orange roasted pumpkin, yellow-green avocado, red and white radish, multi-colored tomato salsa, green spinach, beige creamy chickpeas and whatever else you fancy. Featured dressing or dip here is hummus, made with mashed chickpeas or other beans, blended with ground sesame, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and garlic. Now, doesn’t all that make a great rainbow taco?
Also read: Quinoa and Four Bean Burgers
Rainbow Tacos, soft or crisp, made with wheat or corn or other ingredient, filled with healthy vegan ingredients and made flavorful with hummus or other dressings or dips, like roasted sesame and coconut whipped cream, or soy mayonnaise with garlic and onion. Doesn’t that make you imaging the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow?
Rainbow Tacos with Herb Roasted Pumpkin and Vegan Feta
Ingredients
- 500 gm cubed pumpkin
- 1 tbsp dried Italian herbs
- Olive oil to drizzle
- 1 packets soft tacos 8 pieces
- 1 large avocado sliced
- 1 cup cooked chickpeas
- 2 cups baby spinach or greens of choice
- 4 pink radishes sliced
- 100 gm vegan cheese
- ½ cup hummus
- Handful of fresh parsley and mint chopped
- Sweet chili sauce to taste
Instructions
- Toss pumpkin and dried herbs in a bowl. Spread on an oven tray and drizzle olive oil till nicely coated.
- Grill on 250C pre-heated oven till edges start to turn brown.
- Heat taco bread on a heated griddle and lay each on a flat surface.
- Top with fillings of choice.
- Rap and serve.
- Garnish with fresh mint and parsley.
Rainy days connote gloomy days. The gloominess starts dissolving when the sun re-emerges in the thinning cloudy skies. When sunlight hits raindrops, something magical occurs. There appears a fantastic color arch spanning a big portion of the sky which returns to pristine blue at the end of the rain.
So I strongly suggest you have Rainbow Taco anytime, all the time if you so wish. It will remind you that “Somewhere over the rainbow way up high, the dreams that you dare to dream, really do come true”, so says the Wizard of Oz.
Enjoy your taco!
