Ground Tempeh Tacos

Shamelessly veganized and modified from Alton Brown's original recipe.

Taco Filling

Start by dicing 2 small (or 1 large) potatoes. Coat with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, then roast at 400 degrees for 40-45 minutes, stirring once midway through.

In a small bowl, mix together the following:

2 tbsp chili powder*
1 tbsp ground cumin
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp ground chipotle (or hot smoked paprika)
1 tsp ground coriander

Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add 2 tbsp vegetable oil, then add:

16 oz tempeh, ground into small pieces
2 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp sea salt

Cook the tempeh uncovered, stirring occasionally so that the pieces can start to brown evenly, for 10 minutes. Then add 1/2 cup of veggie broth and cook, covered, for 3-4 minutes until the broth has mostly absorbed. Add your bowl of spice mix, the roasted potatoes, and 2/3 cup more broth and continue to cook, uncovered, until the tempeh is at the desired consistency - around 2-3 more minutes.

Tortillas

To serve, I took corn tortillas and lightly fried them in 1/3 cup of oil for 20 seconds on each side so that they were still pliable, and kept them warm in a 250 degree toaster oven while I made the filling.

*Chili Powder

Part of the reason this was so good was because of the homemade chili powder I used in the spice mix (also from Good Eats:

3 each of ancho chiles, cascabel chiles, and dried arbol chiles (stemmed, seeded and sliced) get dry fried in a pan over medium heat along with 2 tbsp whole cumin seeds until fragrant, around 4-5 minutes. Grind together in a coffee grinder or blender along with 2 tbsp garlic powder, 1 tbsp dried oregano, and 1 tsp ground chipotle. Makes enough for my spice jar, this recipe, and a good bit leftover.