The idea of tacos sounded really good to me the other night, but I wanted something different than our usual lentil taco filling.  This filling came together on the fly, but was so good that we will be having it again and again.

Bean & Zucchini Tacos

1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed

1 small zucchini, diced

1 onion, chopped

1 small jalapeño, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup jarred salsa, any kind will do

2 tsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

Juice of half a lime (about 1 TB)

S&P to taste

In a medium skillet, saute the onions in about 1 TB of olive oil until tender.  Add the zucchini, jalapeño and garlic and cook for another few minutes, until the zucchini begins to get tender.  Add the spices, salsa and beans and cook until the liquid from the salsa has reduced down to a thick paste.  Remove from heat and add the lime juice.  Taste, and season with S&P.

We had ours topped with some homemade guacamole.  This was an awesome dish!  We will definitely be having this again really soon.  For those concerned about the use of the jalapeño, the heat level of this was a mild.  I could have used more to suit my taste, actually, but I was scared to use too much and blow my taste buds out.

Matt’s cousin, Amy, came over for dinner last night. She had been dying to try the lentil tacos (and a recent convert to a vegan diet), so that’s what we had. I also made some tofu ranchero so that we could have lots of leftovers to have another night this week. I also made my own refried beans, which turned out a little on the dry side, but still really tasty.

For the beans, I used 1 medium onion and 1 large jalapeño satueed in about 2 TB of olive oil until they were super soft. I then added about 3 cups of cooked pinto beans and I smashed them up with a potato masher. A little S&P and I was done! I topped them with a bit of chopped cilantro just to give them an extra bit of flavor. As I said, they were slightly dry and I think next time I will add in a bit of veg stock to fix that. Other than that, they were incredibly yummy, and not spicy at all.

When Matt and I lived in San Francisco, there was a taqueria around the corner from our apartment that offered tofu rachero as a burrito or taco filler. I was scared to try it at first, but I’m glad I eventually came to my senses because it’s AWESOME! I did a search on the internet for a ranchero sauce recipe and came up with this one that has served me well for the last few years. Since I don’t follow it exactly, here is my version of it:

Tofu Rachero

1 T olive oil

1 jalapeno, diced

1 stalk celery, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped

1/2 green bell pepper, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 28-oz can diced tomatoes

1 15-oz can tomato sauce

2 cups vegetable stock

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp cumin

1 1/2 tsp oregano

1 T apple cider vinegar

1 package of extra firm tofu, chopped into cubes

S&P

Heat a medium sauce pan over medium heat and add olive oil, jalapeno, celery, onion, bell peppers and garlic. Saute about 5 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients, except salt and pepper. Simmer for about 20 minutes and puree using a blender or hand blender. Save half of the sauce for another time. Add tofu to the remaining half and continue to simmer for as long as possible. (One batch of sauce makes too much sauce for one package of tofu, so I usually make a full batch and freeze half for another time). The longer you can let the tofu simmer in the sauce, the better. I will sometimes make the sauce on the stove and then transfer everything to my slow cooker to let it simmer all day. So delicious!

For dessert, I pulled out some cupcakes that I had in my freezer that were leftover from Emma’s birthday. As I was flipped through Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, I came across the photo of the cookies ‘n cream cupcake. It’s just a plain vanilla frosting with some Newman O’s crunched in… mmmmmm!!!

For dinner last night, I made the lentil taco filling, except that I used half the amount of lentils (1/2 cup) and water (1 1/3) cups.  All other measurements remained the same.  After the lentils were done cooking, I stirred in one can of pinto beans.  Since we were fresh out of traditional taco toppers- i.e. tomatoes, lettuce, avocado- and I had a head of cabbage to use up, I made up a cabbage and roasted corn salad to go on top.  It was so good!  To make the salad, I took about a quarter of a head of green cabbage and sliced it very thin.  I juiced 2 limes over the cabbage and salted it and let that sit for about an hour at room temperature.  I then took some diced red onions and frozen corn kernals and broiled them, the same way that I do when I made the corn and black bean salsa.  I added the corn and onions to the cabbage and stirred in some jarred salsa and chopped cilantro.  Yummy!

Tonight we had the famed lentil tacos for dinner. These are so, so good. If anyone is reading this, please trust me when I tell you that you have to try them, but just be sure to add between 2 1/2 to 3 cups of water, and an extra teaspoon or 2 of chili powder.

Ours were topped with some mock-amole. That is, chopped avocado, chopped tomatoes, chopped cilantro, lime juice and S&P. Not exactly guacamole, but the same gist. I am so excited that the weather is warming up and that our produce is looking (and tasting) good. This was the most delicious avocado I’ve had in a while. Ditto on the tomatoes- they were pretty good for not being in season yet.

To go with our tacos, I made a quick little salad with the rest of the avocado and some pistachios on top. I was too full after eating my tacos to eat my salad, so I will have to enjoy it tomorrow.

I can’t take sole credit for this recipe, but I also can’t remember the name of the book that I got it from. I did change the recipe slightly, so I feel OK posting it:

Corn and Black Bean Salsa

2 cups fresh or frozen corn kernals

1 small red onion, diced

1 jalapeno, minced

1 green bell pepper, diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 can of black beans

1 large tomato, chopped

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Juice of 1 lime

S&P

Preheat your broiler and add the corn, onions, bell peppers, and jalapeno to a baking tray. Drizzle the veggies with olive oil and broil for several minutes (flipping as necessary), until the veggies have begun to char. Add the rest of the ingredients to a large bowl and, when the veggies are done in the oven, add them to the bowl too. Give it a stir and taste for seasoning, adding more lime, salt or pepper, if necessary.

We had this last night wrapped in a corn tortilla. It was really good, although, I had to substitute a few tablespoons jarred salsa for the tomatoes, bell peppers, and jalapeno. This is so good, in fact, that we are planning to serve it at Emma’s birthday party with some chips for dipping! It’s totally a crowd pleaser and it can be prepared a day or so in advance.