Black Bean Vegan Street Tacos

How about I forgot the little spoonful of salsa on top of these black bean vegan street tacos!

I'm hoping you won't hold it against me and we can continue on with the recipe...? Just imagine the most perfect spoonful of a thin, flavor-packed smoky salsa cascading over the avocado and onto the beans. 

Amateur hour over here.

Moving on...

These tacos were inspired by our new weekend craving from a neighborhood food truck. We're fairly obsessed and have eaten them every weekend since finding this truck. Sometimes two nights in a row. But now we're enjoying something pretty similar right at home. While there are still one or two aspects that make their tacos a little extra delicious, these are pretty dang close. Honestly, I think it may be their tortillas. They are SO good. 

The bean mixture is simple but flavor packed and includes a secret ingredient that adds a lot of richness. It's really all about the beans. But it's also about the perfect, half-crisped tortilla and a mound of lime-spritzed avocado. Oh, and the salsa. The salsa that I forgot. I'll never let myself live that down. In any event, make sure you find a good one.

My hope is that this will be an easy, go-to meal for you. It's extremely easy to double or triple and great for serving to a crowd. I've been tweaking this recipe for months now and am finally ready to share. 

So let's get on with it. 

Print Recipe!

Black Bean Vegan Street Tacos 

gluten-free, vegan // yields: 3-4 servings

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 3/4 - 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 cups black beans, drained with 1/2 cup cooking liquid reserved (or liquid from can)
• 2 limes
• 3-4 teaspoons smoky/chipotle hot sauce, or adobo sauce
• 2-3 ripe avocados
• chipotle or tomatilla salsa (you want a thin salsa, not chunky style w/tomatoes)
• 10- 12 mini corn tortillas (about 4-inches)
• shaved onion and/or chopped cilantro (optional)

In a medium pot, heat your oil over medium. Once hot, add the onion, a pinch of salt, and cook stirring frequently for 10-15 minutes. You want the onions super soft and starting to brown. Add the garlic and stir for 30-60 seconds. Now add the cocoa powder, cumin, and 3/4 teaspoon salt. Stir for 30 seconds. Stir in the beans + cooking liquid, juice from 1 lime, and hot sauce.

Bring the beans to a simmer and simmer uncovered for about 10-15 minutes, until beans start to thicken but not letting all of the liquid cook off. Stir every few minutes. Taste and add more salt and hot sauce to taste. I used about 1 1/4 tsp. salt. The hot sauce is more for the smoky flavor than spice in this recipe.

Meanwhile, preheat your oven to broil. When your beans are about half done, spread tortillas in a single layer on a baking sheet. Place on a rack in the center of your oven and let toast for about 2-3 minutes. Flip and toast another 2-3 minutes. Watch very closely as you don't want them to fully crisp. (They're much harder to eat when fully crisp.)

Scoop avocado into a bowl, top with juice from 1/2 lime and a hefty pinch of salt. Mash to desired consistency. Taste and add more lime + salt if desired.

Assemble tacos with beans, avocado, a small spoonful of salsa, and shaved onion and/or cilantro (if desired). Serve immediately.

---

Notes:

• If you can't imagine a taco without cheese, grate pepperjack or sharp cheddar and sprinkle on the tortillas after flipping the first time. Let cook until bubbly then assemble. (This is how they are served from the taco truck.)

Now, I have a favor to ask!

I'm working on an exciting new project involving live streaming video casts that I'll be hosting on a new food platform called NOM. It was actually started by the co-founder of YouTube. And not only are the video sessions live, but we'll also be able to interact while it's all happening with a chat feature. So cool! Have a question during the show, ask away and I can answer!

My actual channel is here: Edible Perspective on Nom

I'll be updating the page soon, but you can already join and follow along. For now, I need your help with what types of food-related topics you'd like me to cover. It can really be anything at all! ie: a specific cooking how-to, showing easy breakfast recipes, talking about certain ingredients and how to use them, stocking a pantry, etc. The shows are about 20-25min long, so I can really cover a lot and it's starting next week! Your help is much appreciated!!

Stay tuned to Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook for the details in when to tune in! I'm nervous + scared + excited but it's going to be SO FUN!

Happy Friday!

Ashley

Kale Salad with Roasted Delicata Squash and Orange Maple Hemp Dressing

Hiiii and happy Friday!!!

It feels so, SO good to be back in this space sharing a recipe with you today. We've been eating it non-stop this past week, and I hope you'll be doing the same very soon.

I really don't know where to start with this post. There are so many things I want to update you on! I know it's been a little quiet here for the past few months or so, but I truly appreciate you sticking with me and still visiting this space for my previously posted recipes. I know you're not looking to read a novel on a Friday, so how about a Cliffs Notes version instead?

• We MOVED, again! If you follow on Instagram you're probably in the know and have seen some photos of my new work space. We moved a short distance from our last house and will not be renovating anything, possibly every again. Famous last words. Or for at least 5 years. I still feel like it's all a dream! There were many reasons for our move, but one of the big ones was so I could have a larger space and more light options for photography. I was thinking about looking into renting a studio space, but our new house ended up being exactly what I needed. 
• After nearly 1 year I finally updated my recipe pages (up top)! I still don't have all of the recipes listed (before 2013), but I did start to divvy them up by larger categories (like, breakfast!) and then sub-categories within those lists. Hopefully, this will be a big help! You can now also search for recipes by a long list of keyword ingredients. I haven't entered in all of the keyword info for each post, but it's a start! Baby steps...
• At the end of last year, I developed 18 recipes for Ancient Harvest that will be appearing on their product packaging! Look for their re-brand to launch sometime in the next few months. So excited for this! All 18 recipes are obviously gluten-free but also vegetarian and/or vegan. But they're very easy to add whatever your protein of choice is.
• I've had a very steady stream of freelance photography work coming in since December. I am actually currently booked through the end of April! I cannot even believe this is reality and am beyond grateful and excited for all of the work (and my amazing clients...seriously).
• I had my very first collaboration shoot last week with Room 214 and Glutino at our new house. It was a BLAST. Be on the lookout for my photography to start popping up on Glutino's Instagram feed in February!!
• Also, be on the lookout for a new website coming soon from Love Grown Foods with a bunch of my work featured there as well! (p.s. Have you seen their new KIDS cereals?? Let me just say, they are not only for kids. I am in love.)
• I have a handful of other photo projects coming in the next few months that I cannot WAIT to tell you about. Maybe I'll start doing some recap posts with my freelance work..?

Slightly longer than I initially intended....per usual.

Things have been exciting around here to say the least!

I must admit, I was quite burnt out by the end of last year and my recipe creating brain was completely shut off. I tried to look around for recipe inspiration but nothing was making sense in my head. I was cooking old standby meals for dinner and actually using my cookbooks. It was kind of nice to give myself a bit of a break and wait for inspiration to hit. I didn't want to come back to this space with anything that was forced, so I simply decided to wait.

And then my latest food obsession provided me with just the inspiration I was looking for.

The ingredients for this salad fell into place pretty naturally in my head. I love it when that happens.

The dressing was modified from a new favorite of mine on Gena's blog. I was really digging the creamy but not too heavy consistency of her dressing and have made it numerous times in the past few weeks. But for this salad, I wanted something a bit brighter in flavor and with some sweetness. That's when I thought to use orange juice in place of water and infuse it will a little maple syrup. 

The dressing helps soften the bitterness of kale and cabbage and helps bring out the natural sweetness in the squash. It's a total winner.

Print Recipe!

dressing adapted from: Gena's Lemon Hemp Dressing

Kale Salad with Roasted Delicata Squash and Orange Maple Hemp Dressing

serves 3-6, gluten-free/vegan 

for the salad: 

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
• 2 small delicata squash, halved lengthwise + seeds scraped
• 1 medium head lacinato kale, stems removed
• 1/2 small head red cabbage, cored
• 1 sweet red apple, cored
• 1/3 cup salted pistachios
• salt + pepper

for the dressing:

• 1/2 cup hulled hemp seeds
• scant 1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• 2 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons orange zest
• 1 small clove garlic, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat your oven to 400° F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

Place squash halves cut side down and slice into 1/2-inch thick pieces. Place on the baking sheet and toss with 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil and a hefty pinch of salt and pepper. Roast for 15-18min. Flip slices and roast for another 15-18min, until starting to turn golden brown. Remove and let cool for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, stack your kale leaves and slice into thin ribbons. Using a mandolin (or very carefully with a knife), thinly slice your cabbage. Toss together in a mixing bowl and massage in 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil for about 60 seconds. Place in the fridge.

Place all dressing ingredients in your blender and turn on working up to high. Scrape the sides as needed. Taste and adjust salt if needed. Pour into a jar. Dressing thickens a bit as it sits.

Just before serving, chop your apple. Place kale and cabbage mixture on a large serving plate, top with squash, apple, and pistachios. Serve dressing on the side. 

Notes:

• Leftovers will keep well for 1-2 days without dressing.
• There will likely be more squash than can fit on top of your platter. I like to serve this salad with the extra squash on the side, or save the extra pieces to eat the next day. Feel free to cook only 1 squash if desired and decrease olive oil to 1 tablespoon for roasting.
• One of the nights we ate this, I mixed in cooked and cooled quinoa and Gena's lemon tempeh. It was outstanding together and made for a very satiating dinner (leftovers were also great!).

Happy weekend!

Ashley