Marvel Menu: HYDRA’s Tacos

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 200°. Cut calamari tubes into 1/2-in. rings; pat calamari mostly dry. Mix flours, cayenne, and salt in a bowl.

2. Heat 1 1/2 in. oil in a 5- to 6-qt. pan over medium-high heat to 380°. Toss one-quarter of calamari at a time in flour to coat, shaking off excess. With a slotted spoon, lower calamari into oil and cook until golden (adjust heat to maintain 380°), 2 to 3 minutes per batch. Transfer to a paper towel-lined baking sheet. Keep warm in oven as you fry remaining calamari.

3. Smear each tortilla with about 1 tbsp. aioli, then fill with calamari and slaw. Add more sauce if you like.

*If tortillas are very thin, buy double the amount and stack 2 per taco.

Note: Nutritional analysis is per taco with 1 tbsp. sauce.

BEEF TACOS

ORIGINAL RECIPE HERE.

Nothing more deliciously evil then a good beef taco, brought to you from one of the many mistresses of the dark herself, Betty Crocker!

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound lean (at least 80%) ground beef.

1 cup old El Paso thick and chunky salsa.

10 old El Paso taco shells

1 medium tomato chopped (3/4 cup)

1 cup shredded cheese (four ounces)

PREPARATION

• 1 Cook beef in 10-inch skillet over medium heat 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until brown; drain.
• Stir salsa into beef. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly; reduce heat to medium-low. Cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Pour beef mixture into large serving bowl.
• 3 Heat taco shells as directed on package. Serve taco shells with beef mixture, lettuce, tomato and cheese.

SUMMER SQUASH TACOS

ORIGINAL RECIPE HERE.

 INGREDIENTS

• 1 lb summer squash (zucchini and yellow squash mix)
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• small pinch each of chili powder, cajun seasoning, cayenne, and salt
• 2 avocados
• juice of 1 lime
• salt
• 8 corn tortillas
• red onion
• cojita cheese
• cilantro

PREPARATION

1. Cut the squash in half length wise and then into 1/2-inch thick pieces.
2. Toss the squash with olive oil and spices to taste.
3. Heat the grill to medium-high and watching carefully, sear squash on all sides just until heated through and crispy on the outside. Remove from grill and place on platter.
4. In a small bowl, mash avocados with lime juice and a pinch of salt.
5. Optional- but I like to throw the tortillas on the grill for just a minute to heat through!
6. To serve tacos, spread some smashed avocado on each tortilla and then top with 3-4 pieces of summer squash.
7. Optional: top each taco with crumbled cojita cheese (or feta), fresh cilantro and thinly sliced red onion.

In keeping with that vegetarian/vegan theme, we looked long and hard at different dessert options.  Top of the list? Everybody’s favorite evil food. Cookies.  Here’s a chewy chocolate vegan cookie and a more traditional (and perhaps more insidious) chocolate chip cookie.

VEGAN CHOCOLATE COOKIE

ORIGINAL RECIPE HERE.

INGREDIENTS

• ³⁄₄cup canola oil
• 2cups sugar
• 2teaspoons vanilla
• 1tablespoon flax seed, plus
• 1teaspoon flax seed
• ¹⁄₂cup soymilk
• 2cups flour
• ³⁄₄cup cocoa powder
• 1teaspoon baking soda
• ¹⁄₂teaspoon salt
• 1 ¹⁄₂cups semisweet vegan chocolate chips (obviously, vegan chocolate chips if you want these to be vegan)

PREPARATION

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Grind flax seeds in a blender until they become a fine powder, then add the soy milk and blend for about 30 seconds more and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, sift together cocoa, flour, baking soda and salt.
4. Cream the sugar and oil in a separate large bowl.
5. Add the flax/soy milk mixture and mix well.
6. Stir in the vanilla.
7. Slowly mix in the dry ingredients (the original recipe does not call for a mixer, but you may want to use yours.).
8. Mix in the chocolate chips
9. Roll dough into 1″ balls and flatten into disks about 1 1/2″ in diameter.
10. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet about 1″ apart and bake for 10 minutes.
11. Let rest on the cookie sheet for about 5 minutes, then remove with a spatula to a cooling rack and cool completely.
12. **For chocolate chocolate chip cherry cookies, replace 1 teaspoon of the vanilla with almond extract, and use 3/4 cup chocolate chips and 3/4 cup chopped cherries.
13. ***For chocolate nut cookies, replace 1 teaspoon of the vanilla with a nut extract (almond, walnut, etc) and replace the chocolate chips with 1 1/2 cups chopped nuts of your choice.

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

ORIGINAL RECIPE HERE.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• Eggs Large White
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons hot water
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 3 cups all purpose flour.

Bake for about 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are nicely browned