Learning something new: vegan cauliflower tacos "al pastor"

Ciao ragazzi.    Annalena is always trying to learn new things.  That includes new dishes, new culinary terms, etc.
The name of this dish is one that is exemplary of her learning, and how one can be fooled.  You will see, in Mexican restaurants, dishes with names that included the phrase "al pastor."  Annalena thought, not unreasonably, that "pastor" meant a shephard, and that meant there was lamb or mutton in the dish.
Those of you more versed in Latino cuisine, may stop laughing now.  On Annalena's "list," besides stopping the new Supreme Court nominee, is learning the derivation of "al pastor," which means a dish with pineapple in it.
There are a bunch of these in cooking.  "Veronique," for example, has nothing to do with Archie comics , but means peeled white grapes;  "florentine" has nothing to do with Florence, be it the city or Nightingale, but means there is spinach in the dish.  Annalena has NO idea what is meant by  "alla siciliano" other than it is grammaticaly incorrect, but you will see what she means:  one can be deceived, easily.
In fact, Annalena learned the meaning of "pastor" at a restaurant where there was a fish dish "al pastor," and she asked  "are you using merquez sausage with it?"  which provoked a befuddled look and "why would we do THAT?" 
As another Anna (Ms. Madrigal)  once said  "don't keep up, keep open."  And indeed, one must.  If you had told Annalena that she would TOTALLY enjoy these vegan tacos, she would have arched her not inconsiderable eyebrows.  But they have become a  "let's make this again" recipe.  That is high praise from Annalena. 
Before we begin, an  "aviso."   This dish has several "moving parts." It is not hard, but you will have many table scraps, and be doing many things.  BE STEADFAST ragazzi.  We all must multitask. And we must be flexible.  Annalena found this recipe in Leites cuinaria, which she recommends to all, and modified it.

First, we are going to pickle some onions, and Annalena will say up front, these are OPTIONAL in the dish.  We did not use them because they were bothering the guyman, but you should have these around.  They are good.

Think you're ready for this?  Making pickles?   WOW.  Ok, here we go.  First, get a red onion, and some seasoned rice wine vinegar:

 Do you see that knife to the side of the onion?  That is Annalena's slicing knife.  Slice that onion into thin rounds, put the rounds in a jar, cover it with the rice vinegar, and put it aside.

Your pickling is done.


Next, we are going to make the filling for these tacos.  We will need a cauliflower, and a pineapple:

Do you see, ragazzi, that the top half of the pineapple is green, while the bottom is brownish yellow?  That means the bottom of the pineapple is riper, and hence, sweeter, than the top.  As we are using the pineapple as a vegetable here, we will use the top  (unless you have bought an unripe pineapple, which you CAN do, and the store will love you for it.  The difference with a pineapple of the type above, is that you can use the bottom half as a dessert or fruit ingredient.
In any event, you will want 1-2 cups of chunks of the pineapple.  So, peel and chunk it. 
As for the cauliflower, you do not need a yellow one.  Annalena perceives them as tastier, but that may be perception.  Use what you can find.  And break up about 3-4 cups of small florets:

What you will do now, is take the cauliflower, and your chunks of pineapple, and dump them onto a baking sheet.  Coat them with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, by tossing them about with your hands.  And then mix 2 teaspoons of chili powder and half a teaspoon of salt

Of course, you may wish to make these spicier, and you can play with this seasoning.  Coat the cauliflower and pineapple with it, and put the tray into a 425 degree oven, for 25-30 minutes. 

While THIS is happening, the fun part:  making the 'queso', or what you might call the cheese sauce.

Remember quesadillas?  Look at queso and quesadilla.  This time, language doesn't fail you.

BUT WAIT:  didn't Annalena say "vegan?"  Yes, she did, and she meant it.  We are going to make CASHEW queso.  It's good.  You might want some around if vegans are visiting you.

To do this, you get your blender, and you add a cup of raw cashews (roasted cashews should work too, but don't use salted ones), a cup of water, 2 tablespoons of this stuff:

NUTRITIONAL  yeast is not baking yeast ragazzi.  Annalena had never used this stuff before.  It is, well, "interesting."  Also add half a cup of your favorite tomato sauce, a teaspoon of salt, and then this mix of spices:  1/4 teaspoon tumeric, 1/4 teaspoon cayenne, and 2 teaspoons of this stuff:

Try not to use too much of this, ragazzi, for our environment.  See, as people have gone away from sugar, their sweet tooth has stayed with them. The result is that demand for agave nectar is high, and the agave plants are being demolished. 

So you have all of this in  your blender, and liquefy it.  You want it as smooth as you can get it.  You will get something that looks like this:

You will be cooking these, at very low heat, stirring, for about 5 minutes. 
According to the original recipe, this provides extra queso.  Annalena did not think so, but this is again, a matter of choice.

So, ragazzi, we have made our filling, our queso, and our onions.  We need our tortillas, and we are ready to begin:

Get the best corn tortillas you can.  Annalena buys hers from the farmers market, and loves them. 

Are we ready for assembly?  Well... not quite yet.

Remember we had the oven at 425?  Drop it to 400.  And brush oil over 8 of your tortillas, on both sides, and place them on a baking sheet:

5-7 minutes is plenty.  When they are cool enough to handle,  you can begin assembling.

Now, when Annalena saw how much filling she had, and since these were dinner, she decided to "amp up" the dish.  She had some ripe organic avocados, and mashed a couple.  Also, the first organic pomegranates of the season had arrived.    So, here comes the assembly.

The avocado is almost a "glue" here for holding down the filling.  Annalena poured a little queso over each one, then folded them, added more queso to the top, and the seeds of one pomegranate:

Looks good, doesn't it?  It was.  Here is the full plate, with spaghetti squash, and pole beans

As we make the transition to fall, ragazzi, we will all be looking for new ways to use vegetables like cauliflower, spaghetti squash, and.... one of Annalena's least favorite vegetables:  Brussel sprouts.  BUT.. .she continues to learn.  Do watch this space next week, for something new with , as we Italians call them  "cavolini."

Alla prossima.  BACI