These are meaty tacos – without any meat! The fully plant-based filling is stick-to-your-ribs hearty, with all the classic flavors of the ground beef taco you grew up with and it won’t take you any longer to make.
Of all the vegan meals I’ve made, this might be my family’s favorite – it’s become part of our regular rotation.
Continue readingOne of the things I love about blogging is the community. Getting connected with other bloggers has made this blog better. I’m constantly learning and trying new things.
One of the things I’ve been diving into much more often this year, thanks to being friends with The Baking Fairy, is vegan cooking.
I can’t say I think that our family will ever go fully vegan, but even small steps help lessen the environmental impact of our food system. A few meals a week without animal products? That’s something we can totally do.
Today is World Vegan Day and I’m excited to share these super easy, super flavorful tacos – that just happen to be vegan too.
Today is the first Friday of Lent, so I’m kicking off my annual Lenten project – sharing meatless meals every Friday. What began as simply a way to keep from eating plain spaghetti and pizza every Friday has grown into one of my favorite yearly blog projects.
But, nine years on, how do I keep this series fresh? I’ve spent a bunch of time thinking about our family’s current needs and how to get them to reflect in my meatless Friday posts.
We’re two months into “real food” with Jake. So far he hates every green vegetable we’ve tried but will happily eat his weight in bananas, peaches and pears. It also means that Jake-friendly ingredients are making it into our menus more frequently. It’s a lot easier to cook up some sweet potatoes for him when I’m already prepping them for us – or mash up some avocado while I’m dicing it for dinner. Can you guess what he had for dinner the night we had these tacos?
These are pretty similar to the Roasted Vegetable and Black Bean Burritos that I love. These ebb on the side of sweet instead of spicy (honey instead of jalapeno) so I think they’d be a little more kid-friendly. And adding fresh avocado and pico de gallo on top made them feel more fresh and almost summery. Definitely one of my favorite meatless meals this Lent!
Honey-Lime Sweet Potato Tacos
(from Cooking Classy)
Serves 6
1 1/2 lbs. sweet potatoes, peeled and diced into 1/2″ cubes
4 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. paprika
1/4 tsp. ground coriander
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 small yellow onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 14 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup frozen yellow corn, thawed and drained
3 Tbsp. honey
3 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
Tortillas, for serving
Feta cheese, diced avocados, pico de gallo, for serving
Preheat the oven to 425F degrees.
In a large bowl, toss the sweet potatoes with 3 Tbsp. olive oil to coat evenly. Add in the spices and toss to coat. Spread out the sweet potatoes on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake 15-20 minutes, until tender, tossing halfway through.
In a large skillet, heat the remaining olive oil until shimmering. Add the onion and cook 5 minutes, until beginning to brown on the edges. Stir in the garlic and cook an additional 30 seconds, until fragrant. Reduce heat and add in black beans, corn, honey and lime juice. Heat until warmed through and add in sweet potatoes.
Serve in tortillas topped with feta, avocado and pico de gallo.
You know how you have crutch dinners you make in a pinch? Like, oh no! I forgot to defrost the chicken! What am I going to do?! nights. This is one of our new crutch dinners. It uses things we usually have in the house and comes together in less than 15 minutes.
They are, undoubtedly, not the prettiest tacos ever but what they lack in looks they make up for in flavor and ease. And since you can make them in about the time it takes to get a pizza delivered, they’re a perfect option for busy Lenten Fridays.
Black Bean Tacos with Avocado Cilantro-Lime Sauce
(from The Garden Grazer)
Serves 4
1 15 oz. cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup salsa
1/2 tsp. cumin
Tortillas, for serving
Corn and Pico de Gallo, for serving, optional
1/2 ripe avocado
3/4 cup cilantro, stems removed
Juice from 1 lime
1 clove garlic
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. honey
1/8 tsp. salt
In a skillet, combine the black beans, salsa and cumin over medium heat. Warm, stirring occasionally, until heated through, about 5 minutes. Mash about half the beans and stir to combine.
While the beans are warming up. combine the avocado, cilantro, lime juice, garlic, olive oil, honey and salt in a food processor. Process until well-blended and mostly smooth.
Serve black beans on tortillas, topped with avocado cilantro-lime sauce and corn and Pico de Gallo, if desired.
Originally posted September 2013; Updated February 2021
My early attempts at cooking from scratch were often born out of necessity – I’d often forget something at the store and then have to make my own homemade version at home. This happened with taco seasoning more times than I care to admit to.
At first, I found it daunting to make my own seasonings, but the more I did it, the more I relied on it instead of store-bought versions. I found it easier to adjust the seasonings to our personal taste (more spice before kids, less so now) and easier to adjust the amount in recipes. I always found it annoying that if I had a little more ground beef than called for, everything would be less flavorful – or if I didn’t want to make as much I’d end up wasting. Making my own was the perfect solution.
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