6.19.15 Grilled Summer Squash Tacos with Avocado Salsa
A few days ago, I figured it was high time for some grilling to happen. And what better to grill, I thought, than some delicious taco fixings. We’d just gotten our first CSA share of the season and included in that box were some particularly tasty looking summer squash and scallions. When I saw those, I immediately began formulating a plan for these delicious grilled vegetable tacos.
When I told Forrest we were having tacos for dinner, he immediately got really excited. He loves tacos (but really, who doesn’t). When he finally got around to asking what kind of tacos and I explained that they were, in fact, going to be vegetable tacos, he immediately got way less excited about taco night. Forrest does not normally approve of vegetables of any kind in his tacos, and to have a taco that was (god forbid) all vegetables was a bit more than he could handle.
But, I explained to him, these weren’t going to be any old boring vegetable tacos; they were going to be spectacular. I marinated the summer squash, scallions, and some poblano peppers in a spicy chipotle marinade, grilled them to charred, smokey perfection, and threw them on some grill-warmed tortillas with a generous pile of chunky avocado salsa, crumbly queso fresco, and farmer’s market cilantro. Forrest, being the good sport that he is, begrudgingly gave the tacos a try and was pleasantly surprised. In fact, he ate his fair share of them. Making a convert out of a previous veggie hater and getting to enjoy some delicious tacos? I call that a win.
Grilled Summer Squash Tacos with Avocado Salsa
serves 2-3
vegetables:
- ¼ cup (loose-packed) cilantro, roughly chopped
- 2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- 2 chipotle chiles (the canned kind in adobo sauce)
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- 2 small summer squash, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 2 poblano peppers, seeded and cut into 1 inch pieces
- 4 large scallions, cut into 1 inch pieces
salsa and assembly:
- 1 avocado, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 small tomato (or a handful of cherry tomatoes) roughly chopped
- 1 fresno chile, finely chopped (seeded if less heat desired)
- 1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
- ½ Tbsp finely chopped shallot
- ¼ tsp salt
- corn or flour tortillas
- crumbled queso fresco, fresh cilantro, and lime wedges for serving
1. Start by making the marinade for the vegetables. Combine the cilantro, lime juice, olive oil, garlic, chipotle chiles, and soy sauce in a blender and puree until smooth.
2. Pour marinade into a large zip-lock bag and add the chopped squash, peppers, and scallions. Press excess air out of bag, seal, and shake to coat veggies evenly with the marinade. Let vegetables marinate at room temperature while you heat your grill to medium high heat (about 20-25 minutes).
3. While vegetables marinate, make your salsa by combining the avocado, tomato, chile, lime juice, chopped shallot, and salt in a bowl and mixing well.
4. When grill is hot, skewer the vegetables on metal or wooden skewers (if using wood, make sure to soak in water first so they don’t catch fire) so they can be easily cooked on the grill. You can reserve any excess marinade to use as a sauce on your tacos.
5. Place vegetable skewers on the grill and cook, turning periodically until veggies are tender and beginning to char, about 20 minutes.
6. Once vegetables are cooked, remove from grill, cool slightly, and remove from skewers. Place tortillas on the grill quickly to warm, flipping once.
7. Assemble tacos by placing some of the grilled vegetables on each tortilla. Top with avocado salsa, queso fresco, and fresh cilantro.
