Vegetarian Black Bean Tacos

I love a good ground beef taco, but sometimes, you just don’t want something quite so greasy.

We set out to create a vegetarian black bean taco that was light on fat but heavy on flavor.

By cooking dried beans ourselves we were able to leave them more aldente, so they hold their shape and carry a pleasant bite to them in the final tacos (canned beans, I’ve found to be much more mushy).

With three kinds of peppers (poblano, jalapeno, and chipotle in adobe) plus cumin and a touch of lime, this taco is light and fresh and ultra flavorful.

In terms of toppings, we opted for simple: with diced avocado, fresh cilantro, crumbled cheese (queso fresco or cotija) and a drizzle of sour cream. I like to mix my sour cream with a bit of lime juice and a splash of milk to thin it out, so it’s more akin to a tangy Mexican crema than thick sour cream, which allows me to drizzle rather than dollop. Mix it up and transfer it to a squeeze bottle for even easier drizzling.

I also think these tacos would be great with the same pickled red onions that we used on our pulled pork tacos, or even this cilantro chimichurri. You can really mix and match the toppings to your heart’s desire.

I’m happy to say that we’ve finally, after years and years of dealing with mushy, crispy, or broken corn tortillas, figured out how to properly warm a store-bought corn tortilla, leaving it soft and pliable and perfect. Of course, ideally you’d be making your own corn tortillas, but that’s not always an option.

How to properly warm corn tortillas:

Preheat a nonstick skillet or griddle pan over medium heat. It should be nice and hot (a drop of water should sizzle when it hits).

Take a tortilla and quickly dip it in a bowl of water. You don’t want to soak it, but dip and remove it so it’s evenly moistened.

Brush your skillet with a light layer of vegetable oil, then add the moist tortilla to the pan. After a few seconds shake the pan a bit so the tortilla doesn’t stick.

Cook for 30 to 60 seconds until moisture has mostly evaporated, then carefully flip and cook for another 30 seconds more. Transfer to a plate and cover with plastic wrap, foil, or a clean kitchen towel while you heat the rest of the tortillas (this covering serves two purposes, to keep the tortillas warm and also to ‘steam’ them which makes them soft and flexible).

Ta-da! Perfectly warmed tortillas that WON’T BREAK when you’re eating your tacos!

And if you want that perfect bit of char around the edges, just run the tortilla over a gas burner or take a kitchen torch to it. It doesn’t add much in the way of flavor but sure does make for a pretty picture. :)

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from Love and Olive Oil http://ift.tt/2CR6EEX