Prawn & Veggie Naked Tacos

Naked Tacos are a lighter version of original tacos served on a soft or hard tortilla. Just replace the tortilla with little gem lettuce. It’s firm, fresh and delicious.

For those of you who like to eat healthy meals, freshly made from scratch but quickly, and yet have a flavourful outcome, here is a great recipe. It can be a quick lunch or dinner. It’s perfect to take to work and finish prepping it there. You may also serve it as finger food canapes.

Firm and fresh naked tacos with a delicious hummus base and flavourful sautéed prawns and veggies!

Serves: 2-3

Ingredients:

1 courgette

150 gr baby chestnut mushrooms

150 gr raw king prawns

1 Birdseye chilli

1 shallot

1 garlic clove

1 cm fresh ginger

1 tsp fish sauce

½ tsp turmeric

1 tsp coconut oil

Salt and pepper to taste

½ lime

Garnish ingredients:

• Little gem lettuce
• Hummus
• Coriander

Instructions:

Prep the ingredients

1. Rinse the courgette, cut twice lengthwise and chop about ½ cm thick.
2. Rinse the baby chestnut mushrooms three times and cut in half.
3. Rinse and chop the Birdseye chilli.
4. Peel the garlic clove and cut in half lengthwise. Remove the germ and slice thin.
5. Peel the piece of fresh ginger, slice it and cut in thin strips.
6. Peel the shallot, cut it in half lengthwise and slice thin.
7. Cut the peeled raw king prawns in half and season with salt, pepper and turmeric. Mix and reserve.

Cooking directions

1. In a saucepan or a wok, heat coconut oil in medium heat.
2. Sweat the shallot until translucent.
3. Add the chilli, garlic and ginger and cook until soft.
4. Incorporate the courgette first. Cook until it starts to get soft.
5. Add the chestnut mushrooms and cook together. Then, add the fish sauce and continue cooking.
6. Reduce the heat to low and when the vegetables are almost cooked, add the raw king prawns and mix all ingredients well making sure the prawns are evenly cooking.
7. When cooked, remove from the heat, sprinkle some lime juice on top.

Garnish instructions:

Chickpea hummus

• In advance, prepare hummus from scratch. I’ve tried several recipes and my favourite is the one from Chocolate & Zucchini (C&Z). 

Hummus Tips

• Kombu seaweed in the cooking water makes the chickpeas easier to digest. 
• The flavour of the hummus deepens as the days go by.
• You might want to save some chickpea cooking water in case you want to thin out the hummus later.

Assemble the naked tacos

1. Rinse the little gem lettuce leaves and dry.
2. Use a piping bag to pipe the hummus on the gem lettuce leaves. 
3. With a spoon, delicately add the prawn & veggie mix on top of the hummus piped on the gem lettuce leaves.
4. Decorate with chopped coriander leaves if you like.
5. Eat with clean hands.

Cold hummus, fresh crunchy little gem leaves and the hot prawn & veggie mix make a good combination of flavour, texture and temperature. I love this easy recipe with few calories.

They say that eating with your hands (clean, of course!) has certain digestive and health benefits, as well as, is quite liberating. Why not give it a try?

Find more healthy recipes here