Continuing on my fiesta of vegetarian “seafood” dishes, comes this incredible appetizer to serve at your holiday parties, the Battered “Calamari” Street Tacos. This recipe is like an elevated, slightly fancier version of my “fish” tacos that was one of my first blog recipes ever. I’ve been dreaming up a vegan version of calamari for quite some time now and this recipe hits all spots and will rock you and your guests socks off.
The fish tacos were one of the first out of the box vegetarian dishes I tried to make for Andrew when we first started dating, and we both became instantly obsessed. It’s probably like 90% of the reason that he’s in love with me still to this day. Fish tacos, chicken fried steak and the mutual bonding that comes from binge watching game of thrones together … that’s the foundation of a healthy relationship.
I have always had an affinity for calamari, it was one of my favorite appetizers to get when I would go eat out with my mom and aunts when I was younger. As a kid I was always a really good eater, I could put down some serious food and I was absolutely fearless, I think I had snails for the first time when I was like 6. Calamari though it’s hard to give me adventurous credits for because it’s like a small step above chicken tenders. Still though, it was always one of my first suggestions.
Even if you’re not a fish person, I promise you, you’ll absolutely love this recipe! It has all the spicy flavors and crunch of fried calamari, but honestly, the texture is even a little better here because it has less of that chewiness that turns some people off from seafood.
The slaw and the lemon aioli serve as perfect compliments here. The spicy lemon aioli, along with the occasional fried fresno pepper you might find give it the perfect kick. I also love these as the small street style tacos but you can make them full size if say you’re doing them for a dinner. Honestly, you could even scrap the taco part and just put the calamari’s into a basket.
I can’t believe we’re really only 3 weeks away from Christmas! I have to leave you now so I can online shop but stay tuned alllll week for more Christmas dinner, dessert and breakfast foods. YUM.
Lots of Love,
Jackie
- Tacos
- 2 cups oyster mushrooms, sliced
- 1 can hearts of palm, sliced into rings
- 1 can full fat coconut milk
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp old bay seasoning
- 2 tsp sea salt
- 1 tbsp hot sauce
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tbsp lemon pepper
- 1 tbsp old bay seasoning
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 2 tsp mustard powder
- 12-16 street taco tortillas
- Spicy Lemon Aioli
- 1 cup vegan mayo
- 1 lemon, zest and juice
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 2 tsp old bay
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 1 tbsp hot sauce
- 2 tsp dijon mustard
- Simple Slaw from Fish Tacos
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium size bowl, whisk together the coconut milk, apple cider vinegar, 1 tbsp old bay seasoning, salt, hot sauce and soy sauce until mixed. Add the mushrooms, hearts of palm and fresno peppers to the marinade and let sit for 20 minutes.
- In another medium bowl, combine the flour, lemon pepper, the remaining old bay seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, smoked paprika and mustard powder.
- Once the mushrooms and hearts of palm are marinaded, remove them from the marinade one at a time, and roll them in the flour mixture until fully coated. Place on the baking sheet evenly spread apart. You may need two baking sheets.
- Bake for 20 minutes until the outside coating starts to brown.
- While the mushrooms and hearts of palm are baking, prepare your spicy lemon aioli by whisking all the ingredients together in a small bowl. Char or heat your tortillas. if you have a gas range stove just char them by placing them on top of your stove guard over an open flame, cooking each side for about 20 seconds. Or you can cook them in a pan with oil. Prepare the slaw.
- To assemble the tacos, add the slaw on the bottom, top with the "calamari mixture (hearts of palm, mushrooms and peppers) and drizzle with aioli.
