Zucchini "Tortillas"

 I LOVE Mexican food!  Seriously, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it! I grew up on Mexican food. My grandmother used to cook all the time. I used to spend summers with her and she lived with us for some time. She really started my little cooking bug.  I used to love to spend all day cooking tamales, soups, Mexican rice, and homemade tortillas.  We mostly did flour and they were delicious. They were heavenly and I can still taste them now as I write about it. It's amazing how certain memories stick with you.  Homemade tortillas are one of them.  Another one, that I would like to forget, is having lengua (cows tongue) sit on our kitchen table being ready to get chopped up for tacos. I remember thinking why would I want to eat something that can taste me???? I'm not a fan of lengua tacos if you haven't guessed.

  Anyway, back to tortillas.  I will never forget the first time I helped my grandmother make tortillas.  I was in awe of how she made them.  There were no measuring cups or measuring spoons.  It was all a pinch of this or a handful of that. She only needed her hands and figured it out by how it felt. This went against all the cooking shows I had ever seen.  So, naturally I thought it was magical. I watched her turn flour into dough and soon we were rolling out tortillas.  I tried to do it like my grandmother but I ended up making the tortillas quite large. I remember everyone being nice and saying that's just the way they like them.  I love that memory and I will always treasure moments of cooking with my grandmother. 

  When you go paleo, Mexican food can get pushed to the side sometimes.  You can't have cheese, rice, tortillas or corn. But it is still something I love.  So, I had to find my way to be paleo and have some of the staples. Tortillas were a hard one to get over.  Nothing ever seemed quite the same.  What I wouldn't give for a street taco. I finally figured it out and here it is.  This is a tortilla made from zucchini and it really reminds me of a corn tortilla.  It's pretty freaking awesome and my kids can't get enough of them.  I will admit they are bit more time consuming than most of my recipes but they are well worth it.  The trick is to get all the moisture out of the zucchini and get a nice thin layer or else you will end up with a soggy mess.  

  You can top these tortillas with my Braised Cherry Pork Shoulder or any meat of your choice. Whatever it is, it will be delicious and  will give you a taste of Mexican food again! 

Zucchini "Tortillas"

Makes:Approx 12 tortillas

Prep Time:20 minutes

Cook Time:13 minutes

Total Time:33 minutes

Ingredients:

• 8 cups zucchini, shredded
• 1 cup almond meal/flour
• 1 egg
• 2 TBSP coconut flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• coconut spray or oil for pan

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. 
2. Cut bottoms off zucchini and shred, I use the tops as a handle.
3. Place the zucchini in a thin layer on several paper towels or thick cloth napkins on a large sheet pan. You may have to do this in two batches.  Place in oven for about 5 minutes.  You want to warm up a bit to remove the moisture. 
4. Let cool for about 5 minutes and then squeeze as much liquid out of the zucchini as you can. I do this in the napkin/paper towels.
5. Place all ingredients (except coconut oil) in a bowl and add drained zucchini. Mix well. 
6. Line the large sheet pan with parchment paper and lightly spray with coconut oil. You want just enough to brown a little not to soak it. 
7. Place a heaping TBSP of the mixture on the pan and spread out with a spoon until you make a small tortilla (think the size of a typical corn tortilla). Repeat until mixture is gone.  Again, you may have to do several batches.
8. Bake in the oven for 5 minutes. Flip and cook an additional 3 minutes or until slightly browned and crisp.
9. Remove from oven and op with Braised Cherry Pork Shoulder or your favorite taco toppings.