simple cauliflower tacos

Last week I told you about our favoritequarantine cookies. This is our quarantine taco, another simple discovery from our early Inside Days this spring that ticked a miraculous number of boxes at once. Like, “How do we turn this massive head of cauliflower into dinner because it’s too big for our overstuffed fridge?” and “without having to go to the store and buy anything extra?” It used so many ingredients that had becomestaples— canned beans, cotija (great fridge shelf life), red onions, tortillas, and a small luxury of anavocado deliveryservice we discovered right when we needed it most. Plus, it managed to work for the whole family, including our pickiest, who we discovered liked roasted cauliflower and also pickled onions, we suspect because they’re pink.

I’m lousy at meal planning because I’m not the kind of cook who ever wants to make the same dish every single week. I want to make something new that I thought of five minutes ago, not what I thought last Saturday I’d be craving on Wednesday night. But there is some magic in this combination of ingredients — scorched, highly seasoned cauliflower in a medium rubble, lime juice, creamy avocado, salty cotija, crunchy pickled onions, and the most delicious hot sauce (current favorite: Valentina) that I have still (still! over six months later!) yet to tire of eating so now we get a head of cauliflower every week and confidently know it will not go to waste.

I realize this site already has a fair share of tacos (and even acauliflower quesadilla) but I definitely don’t need to tell you that tacos — small packets, complex ingredients, vibrant finishes, always the right balance of filling but not food coma-inducing — are the perfect food, right? And with that, I’m off to make another batch of these tonight.

Tacos, previously:Crisp Black Bean Tacos with Feta and Slaw,Sweet Potato Tacos,Charred Corn Tacos with Zucchini and Radish Slaw,Taco Torte