Black Bean Tacos with Chipotle Crema

“Vegetarian, gluten-free, texturally interesting”

Black Bean Tacos with Chipotle Crema

{Behind the scenes – Black Bean Tacos with Chipotle Crema}

Don’t judge a book by its cover.

Don’t judge these tacos from the photo.

Please.

These tacos are good.

Really.

And they’re vegetarian.

And gluten-free.

So shut-up…

I didn’t serve these tacos for Cinco de Mayo, or for Meatless Monday, although they would have been perfect for either. I served these tacos on a Thursday for no other reason other than I thought they might be good.

I hate it when social media tries to tell me when to do things. Do you want to eat meat on Monday? Go for it! Want to go meatless on Tuesday?  I’ll stand behind your right to do so.

And what’s the difference between Throwback Thursday and Flashback Friday anyway?

I’ve been reading a lot about using black beans in place of meat, and always had a “hmmm…” reaction to it.

Meat is meat. It has texture that beans don’t have. Flavor that beans don’t have. But flavor can be manipulated, so maybe texture can too.

So we start with the beans

I thought of my Savory Black Beans that I use as a base for my Ultimate Huevos Rancheros and I thought they might also make a delish taco.  But I wanted this recipe to be vegetarian, well, lactovegetarian, so when making my beans for Black Bean Tacos with Chipotle Crema, I omitted the bacon.

But you don’t have to.

If you don’t want to.

Of course, I went online to see what others were doing, or had done, or had thought of doing …

The cheesy part Feta v Cotia

There are a number of recipes for Black Bean Tacos with Feta and Cabbage Slaw. I mean a lot. I think they all come from the same recipe because they are all exactly the same.

But Feta?

With tacos?

Why?

Cotia cheese, a real cheese from Mexico would add the same salty element, so why not use Cotia?

Cotia it is.

Add some crunch

I liked the idea of using coleslaw mix as a time saver. I’m all for saving time. If you want to shred your own cabbage – that works too.

Too much fat. I try to take fat down when I can, and when it doesn’t compromise flavor. There are only 2 teaspoons of fat in this recipe and it’s all used to cook the taco shells crispy.

And the crispy shell is so important to add to the total mouthfeel of this taco.

The finishing touches

Last but not least, finishing touches. I love love love street fish tacos in Mexico. Battered fish , soft tortilla, cabbage and crema, crema being a mixture of sour cream, mayonnaise and lime juice (maybe a little water or milk to loosen it up?) Maybe not the best thing to eat after it has sat in the hot sun for a few hours, but I’ve never gotten sick, so it must be the “Mexico quality control.”

Whatever.

Get the opposites? Crisp taco, soft center, crisp center, soft outside? It’s the ying and yang of food. Texture.

I made a Chipotle Crema that rounds out the flavors of this perfectly.  Each bite is delish. And as I said, don’t judge the book by its cover.

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