Taking inspiration from Mexican street food this recipe is quick and easy, yet full of all the bold and vibrant flavours you expect from Mexican food. This is a great recipe for getting kids involved with their food, much like Fajitas you can serve everything to the table and let them construct their own tacos!
This recipe uses Chipotle Paste which is made from dried Jalapeño peppers and it’s one of my favourite ingredients ever! It adds such an amazing flavour to the dish – think smoky, sweet, hot, sharp burst of awesomeness. If you cook Mexican food regularly then add a jar of this to your shopping list, is readily available at most supermarkets, to really boost up your dishes.
The recipe is split into three parts ‘Making the Salsa’, ‘Making the Spicy Bean Filling’ and ‘Making the Tacos’. The first part ‘Making the Salsa’ can be made well in advance and if you double up the recipe it will make more salsa than you need so you can freeze it and use it again that month (just be sure to thoroughly re-heat it). If your making the Salsa, filling and tacos all in one go start the salsa off first so this can be simmering away whilst you concentrate on cooking up the filling.
Vegan
Makes 8 Tacos
Making the Salsa
1 Tbsp Oil, for frying
1 Red onion, cut into thin strips
2 Cloves of Garlic, finely chopped or pressed
1 Fresh Chilli, finely chopped (more if you like it hot!)
1 400g Tin Chopped Tomatoes
2 Medium Tomatoes, halved then quartered into chunks
1/2 Tbsp Cumin
1/2 Tbsp Smoked Paprika
Handful of fresh Coriander (it is best to use fresh here, you could use dried and ground in a pinch though!)
Salt and pepper to taste
opt: 1 Tsp Dried Oregano
opt: 1/2-1 Tsp Sugar
- Heat the oil in a medium sized sauce pan and fry the red onion for about 5 minutes, add the garlic and chilli and gentle fry for another 5 minutes.
- Add the cumin and Paprika to the pan and warm through for 1-2 minutes to release the flavours.
- Pour in the chopped tomatoes with all the juice and your fresh tomato chunks opt: add the dried oregano and Simmer rapidly reducing by roughly a 1/4 (this should take about 20-35 minutes, but depends on the size of your pan). Once this is simmering its a great time to start ‘Making the Filling’ if doing all the steps together.
- Season to taste, opt: if the salsa is slightly tart/sharp add a little sugar 1/2 a Tsp to start with, mix well, taste again and add more if required.
- Serve hot as we do or allow to cool first if you prefer.
Making the Filling
1 Tbsp Oil, for frying
1 Red onion, finely chopped
2 Cloves of Garlic, finely chopped or pressed
1 Fresh Chilli, roughly chopped (add more if you like it hot!)
2 400g Cans Mexican Bean mix, (or 1 can black beans and 1 can black eye beans) drained but retain the liquid
3 Medium tomatoes, cut into large chunks
1 Ripe Avocado, chopped into small chunks
Salt and pepper to taste
Juice of 1 lime
Small Handful of fresh Coriander, roughly chopped
1 Tbsp Ground Cumin
1/2 Tbsp Ground Cinnamon
opt: 1-2 Tbsp Chipotle Paste to taste
- Heat the oil in a large frying pan, ideally with high sides such as a sauté pan and fry the onion until it just starts to turn brown.
- Add the garlic and chilli and fry for a further 2-3 minutes, add the cumin and cinnamon and warm through for 1-2 minutes to release the flavours and combine well.
- Mix in the Beans and add 4 tbsp (60ml) of the liquid they come in, sprinkle in most of the coriander and stir well. opt: stir through the chipotle paste, be careful as some brands are hotter than others!
- Cook for 10 minutes, add the chunks of tomatoes and cook for a further 5-10 minutes until the beans are cooked, season to taste. I would start the next step ‘Making the Tacos’ now.
- Once cooked add 1/2 the lime juice into the pan and stir well. Scatter the avocado on top and sprinkle the remaining lime juice over the contents of the pan and garnish with a little fresh coriander.
- Serve the pan to the table (take care as it will be hot, use an appropriate stand/mat or place it on a plate to protect your table).
Making the Tacos
8 Corn Tortillas (8″-9″ diameter approx)
Wooden rolling pin or other heat resistant cylindrical object
- Heat a non-stick frying pan to a high heat
- Place the tortilla into the pan and toast for 2-3 minutes each side, keep an eye on it and once it starts to blacken in spots its ready to be flipped/removed
- As soon as you remove the toasted tortilla fold it around the rolling pin or whatever your using and allow to cool off a bit before removing, it should go slightly hard and crispy and retain its shape to create the classic taco look.
Serve everything to the table with a bowl of fresh shredded lettuce and your ready to build your tacos. If your not vegan you could also serve it with cheese and/or sour cream but I don’t normally do this as there is plenty of flavour and without the dairy it helps keep the calories and sat fat down!
Dave
Eating Vegetarian 