To my surprise, her response was very enthusiastic and the actual comment she made was, "yay, I can finally find your recipes without having to nag you over and over!"
Since she made that comment, I've tried to make an effort to make a blog post for each of my frequently requested recipes. Instead of retyping and sending to each person, I make one blog post and can easily refer anyone who asks to my blog.
I recently mentioned my black bean soft tacos on one of my favorite websites and a few asked for the recipe. I've been asked before so I decided it was time to return to my blog and post it.
So, without further adieu, here is my recipe for black bean soft tacos. There is a long (and in my opinion, better) version and a short version, I'll post both.
Long version-
Ingredients:
1/2 lb dry black beans
1/2 a medium onion, finely chopped
1 Tb finely chopped oregano
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
24 ounces of chicken broth
1 cup of salsa
2 cups of cooked rice
tortillas
shredded colby jack cheese
Sort and soak your beans the night before. In the morning, drain and rinse your beans and add to Crock-Pot with chicken broth, onion, garlic, oregano, cumin and salt and simmer on low all day.
Prepare rice according to package directions. Mix rice, drained black beans and salsa. Fill tortillas and garnish with shredded cheese, sour cream, pico de gallo, and fresh lime juice as desired. Enjoy!!!
Short version-
Ingredients:
2 cans of black beans, drained
1 1/2 Tb dried onion
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1 chicken bouillon cube
1 cup picante sauce
2 cups instant rice, prepared
tortillas
shredded Colby jack cheese
Drain black beans and add to pot with onion, oregano, garlic, cumin, salt, bouillon, and 2 cups water. Simmer on low.
Prepare rice according to instructioms.
Drain black beans and combine with rice and picante.
Serve over tortillas with cheese, sour cream, pico and lime juice as desired.
Homemade tortillas recipe-
Ingredients:
3 cups all purpose flour
3 Tb lard or shortening
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 pinch of sugar
1 cup of warm water
Thoroughly mix flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Using a pastry blender or a fork, add the lard/shortening until well incorporated.
Slowly incorporate water until dough holds together.
On a floured surface, shape into a ball and knead until smooth and glossy.
Divide dough into 12 equal parts and roll into balls. Spray with non stick spray and cover with saran wrap or a towel and let dough balls rise at LEAST 15 minutes (I usually let them rise for 30).
Use a rolling pin to flatten each ball into an 8 inch circle.
Heat a skillet to medium high and spray with non-stick spray. Cook tortillas one at a time. When bubbles form, flip and flatten, cooking until tortilla puffs up. Remove from heat and keep warm until serving.
The longest part of this entire process is cooking each tortilla individually so I borrow Mr. Gems vintage waffle iron/griddle and I can cook 3 tortillas at once.
As always, measurements are approximate, have fun and explore cooking!! Adjust it to your family's liking and keep on cooking!
