Black Bean and Sweet Pepper Tacos

We all need to have a few quick, easy, healthy, tasty dinners in our repertoire. We deserve it! Life be crazy! This is one of mine - a go-to when I need dinner done in ten minutes, but I still want it to be healthy and yummy. We also deserve recipes we don't need to worry about following perfectly. I never actually follow the amounts for this one. And it's summer, and who wants to turn on the oven in the summer? Skillet all the way.

(I think we can all agree that vegetarian meals are prettier than meaty ones.)

Black Bean and Sweet Pepper Tacos

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil (I never measure the olive oil, and you could probably skip it and just sautee in water if you want to be extra healthy)

1 16 ounce package frozen stir-fry peppers (I use fresh peppers - I grab a couple from the store based on which ones are on sale - usually the green and red. Or if we have one of those bags of small sweet peppers for snacking and they're on their way out, I just use them up.)

2 cloves garlic, minced (Garlic is one of those ingedients you can almost always add more of, especially if you have the big jar of minced garlic in liquid)

1 15oz can black beans, rinsed and drained

1/4 teaspoon sea salt (I just sprinkle a little on, or omit it altogether)

2 teaspoons lemon or lime juice (I just take that little squeeze bottle of lime juice and squirt it around the pan a few times)

6-inch corn tortillas, warmed (I heat them on the stove, with or without oil, or if I'm pressed for time, in the microwave)

Shredded cheese for topping

(I also add brown rice mixed up with a little olive oil and Creole seasoning when the tacos are done.)

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add peppers and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes or until peppers are tender and most of the liquid has evaporated. Stir in beans and salt; heat through. Remove from heat and stir in lemon or lime juice.

2. Lay tortillas flat and divide pepper mixture among tortillas. Top each with cheese and serve.

*You won't find that your life is changed or your taste buds have never experienced a love like this before. It's a fairly simple-tasting dinner, which is why I add extra garlic and cook up some minute brown rice while the peppers are cooking and then add in a drop of olive oil and sprinkle in some Creole seasoning - I find adding the rice w/Creole helps give some flavor to the tacos and adds a little more oomph so I don't have to eat a billion tacos to feel full. So like I said, this isn't the most exciting dinner you ever had in your life, but it's easy and good and we all need easy and good sometimes.

Crispy Quinoa Sliders, Homemade Fries, and Fry Sauce

This is one of my favorite dinners. And it just seems perfect for summertime.

Thanks to my friend Laura for sharing it with me.

I think the original source's writer describes it humorously and perfectly, so I will just link you there:

How Sweet Eats: Crispy Quinoa Sliders

I quite enjoy her post. And for reference, recipe below:

Crispy Quinoa Sliders

YIELD: MAKES 12 SLIDERS (BUT ALSO DEPENDS ON THE SIZE OF YOUR BUNS)

PREP TIME: 20 MINUTES

COOK TIME: 20 MINUTES

TOTAL TIME: 45 MINUTES

ingredients:

1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
2 cups vegetable or chicken stock
1 cup cooked chickpeas
1/2 cup freshly grated provolone cheese
1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
1/2 cup chopped carrots
2 green onions, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 large egg + 1 egg white, lightly beaten
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
12 multigrain slider buns or dinner rolls
2 avocados, sliced for topping
1/2 cup chipotle mayo, for topping

directions:

Add quinoa and stock to a medium sauce pan and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cover, cooking for 15 minutes or until can be fluffed with a fork. You can do this ahead of time or even the night before (and store quinoa in the fridge) so the quinoa can cool.

While quinoa is cooking, slice the green onions, chop the carrots, mince the garlic and grate the cheese. Place it all in a bowl, then add panko and mix. Coarsely chop the chickpeas and add to the bowl. One quinoa is finished cooking, add it to the bowl and mix well until incorporated. If needed, let cool or place in the fridge for a few minutes to cool. Add in beaten egg + egg white, salt, pepper and mix well. Form into patties (I really squeezed a handful of quinoa together and smoothed it into a round, it may take some squeezing and form to get the patties to stick) that fit the size of the buns you have. <- this will differ!

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil. Once hot, add 5-6 quinoa patties and cook until deeply golden brown and crispy, about 5 minutes. Gently flip and cook 5 minutes more. Remove and continue with remaining olive oil and patties. Serve with sliced avocado chipotle mayo!

My notes:

-I've said before that for most recipes, cheese is interchangeable, and it's true that I usually use cheddar for this recipe because it's what I have on hand, but the couple of times I've use provolone, I do think it tastes better.

-If you forget or don't have the green onions, it'll still be good.

-I don't use slider buns (or even make them slider size). Just whatever buns I have. We like those thin ones you can get at Costco, multi-grain.

-I have never used the chipotle mayo. And just those two words together make me shudder a little.

-For condiments and toppings I just do ketchup or even just the avocado is enough. We like to top these the way you top any burger - lettuce, spinach, pickles, etc.

-Sometimes they don't form patties very well, but as the original blogger explained, they're so good and versatile, I don't think it matters. I can eat this stuff plain with a fork or spoon.

-This freezes excellently. I freeze the leftovers and when it comes time, I just thaw it and cook it on the stove in one giant pile of mush (instead of trying to form patties) and then scoop some out to put in a sandwich.

-Depending on how you cook them, they may or may not be crispy. I cook them slowly on a medium heat and that helps them keep a patty shape. My hubby cooks them at higher heat to get it done faster, which leads to an awesomely crispy outside, but then they kind of crumble and don't stay in a patty form very well. Just play around with it. No matter its shape, it'll taste good.

Homemade Fries

Our Best Bites (what? I never reference them) has recipes for regular fries and sweet potato fries. I usually do some sort of combination of both. If you want the actual recipes, here they are:

French Fries

Sweet Potato Fries

What I do: 
Slice up some potatoes and sweet potatoes and toss them with some olive oil, cumin, oregano, coriander, parsley, salt, and pepper; then bake them on a cookie sheet at 425 for however long it takes.

My favorite part is that they are delicious and taste like french fries, but they are healthy. And my toddler loves them.

Fry Sauce:

This is probably the hardest part of this whole thing. Mix up ketchup and mayo together and then get dipping. 

I know, I know...I ask too much.