Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Black Bean Tacos

In an attempt to decrease inflammation I've been following some food combining rules lately.  In particular, I don't eat meat with complex carbohydrates.  If I want to be nice and cook for my partner too though, I need to make an added consideration: she is a meat lover, and veggie meals don't satisfy her.  So, I've been on the lookout for recipes that can be adapted for meat-eaters or vegetarians alike.  This one fits the bill.  I can make the black bean filling for myself, and she can cook up ground beef for her own.  Making the black bean filling in advance is handy, so that when dinner time comes you just have to throw some in taco shells or tortillas and add a few garnishes.

This Black Bean Filling recipe comes from the vegetarian restaurant Fresh, in Toronto.  It's one of my favourite places to eat when I'm in my home city.  They've put out a few cookbooks.  In this case, it's from reFresh : Contemporary Vegan Recipes from the Award-Winning Fresh Restaurants.

Ingredients (for filling):

6 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, peeled and diced
4 cloved of garlic, minced
2 tsp. cumin seeds, toasted and ground (I've substituted dried cumin and it tastes great)
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 tsp. apple cider vinegar (white vinegar seems to do the trick as well)
1 tsp. sea salt
4 cups canned or cooked black beans

Heat oil in saucepan over medium heat.  Add onions and cook until soft.  Add remaining ingredients except beans and simmer for 5 minutes.  While cooking, puree black beans in food processor or mash as smoothly as possible by hand.  (I've used my hand mixer.)  Add black beans to mixture.  Stir until heated through.

For tacos:

1 pkg. taco shells or gluten-free tortillas
Toppings of your choice: salsa, avocado slices, chopped green onions, or whatever you can dream up!

Serves 4.

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