Taco night

When the toddler is yelling, and everyone is hungry, and you still have your computer out trying to work, this is a quick and easy midweek meal.  Tacos!

I heated up some soy burger, and refried beans.  I sauteed some broccoli and carrot slaw from Trader Joe's and opened a jar of Cowboy Caviar.  

The end.

Tacos

 There's not much to say about these.  I've made them before, and I'll make them again.  I just wanted to post these because the pictures were so great!  (I mean, isn't your mouth watering just looking at them?)

 Tacos are an all-time favorite in our household because we can each make our own how we like with different toppings, and they are always spicy and delicious.  To add to the fiesta, I went to El Nopalito's Market to get some authentic Mexican toppings like tomatillos and their homemade fresh chips and salsa.

For the tacos, this time I used La Tortilla Factory Hand Made Style Green Chile tortillas, which are AMAZING!  They are a mix of corn and whole grains and green chile's, and they are perfect for taco night.  Yum.

Toppings:
Black Beans
Tomatillos (canned)
Jalapeno peppers (canned)
Heats of palm
Carrots
Tomatoes
Onions
Daiya Vegan Cheddar
Fresh salsa
Tapa Tio

One more pic to make you drool

 

Bean Tacos

These aren't your average tacos.  Martha says so.

Yes, I just subscribed to Martha Stewart Living magazine.  I couldn't help it.  I do love Martha.  She helped plan my wedding two years ago after all! 

So this is the first recipe from her magazine that I've tried, and so far - so good!  It actually is a recipe entitled "Bean-and-Fish Tacos."  No brainer here, I just left out the fish. 

First I boiled and soaked  2 cups of dry pinto beans.  Once I started cooking them, I added a quartered onion, some carrots, celery, and garlic as "aromatics."  The house smelled wonderful, and when it was time to eat, these tacos were amazing!  It was the radishes.  Who would have thought?

(I halved this recipe and it made about four servings)

Ingredients

• 1 Vidalia onion, thinly sliced into rings
• 2 limes, 1 juiced and 1 cut into wedges
• Coarse salt
• 1/3 cup finely chopped scallions (about 6)
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped jalapeno chiles (about 2)
• 3/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro, plus sprigs for serving
• 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 2 cups cooked beans, plus 1/4 cup cooking liquid
• 8 to 12 corn tortillas, toasted briefly over an open flame and wrapped in a cloth, for serving
• 4 radishes, thinly sliced, for serving
• 1 head romaine lettuce, trimmed and shredded (2 cups), for serving

Directions

1. Preheat broiler with rack 8 inches from heat source. Toss onion with lime juice and a pinch of salt. Let stand at least 10 minutes and up to 1 hour.
   
2. Meanwhile, mix scallions, jalapenos, chopped cilantro, a pinch of salt, and 2 tablespoons oil. Transfer 1/2 cup to a small bowl (set remaining mixture aside), and stir in remaining 2 teaspoons oil. Rub all over fish.
   
3. Reheat beans and their liquid. When hot, stir in 3 tablespoons reserved scallion-cilantro mixture. Remove from heat; cover.
   
4. Broil fish, flipping when scallions and cilantro begin to brown, about 6 minutes. Continue to cook until opaque throughout, about 4 minutes more.
   
5. Serve beans and fish with tortillas, remaining scallion-cilantro mixture, lime wedges, onions, cheese, radishes, and lettuce.
   
   
   
   
   

Street Tacos

There's a popular type of food around this area called "Street Tacos."  At least that's what my husband calls them and they are these little open-faced tacos usually made with grilled meat and served from a street cart in Baja California, Mexico.  Living within miles of the border, you can understand why they would be popular around here.  Apparently they're really good, but I wouldn't know...

Since we had all those leftover corn tortillas from the "Huevos" Rancheros, I decided I wanted street tacos and I was going to make them, vegan-style.

I had a block of grilled tofu from a BBQ the night before so I chopped it up into thin rectangular pieces.  In a pan, I sauteed some chopped onions in olive oil and added some salsa and chili powder, salt and pepper.

Sorry, there are no exact measurements here.  With things like this you kinda just have to go with what you feel like is the right amount of ingredients.  Isn't that what makes cooking so much fun anyway?

I threw the tofu in the pan and mixed everything all together and let it simmer for about ten minutes.

Meanwhile I heated up some Cuban-style black beans and a black bean soup from Trader Joes.

Made some rice and chopped up an avocado and tomato.  Added a salad on the side.

Finally I put it all together with the corn tortillas and sprinkled Tapa Tio over everything. 

Street Tacos are amazing.