Back in January I printed a black bean taco recipe from the Bon Appétit website thinking it would be the perfect warm weather dinner.  Well, Seattle may have only hit a high of 54° today, but it was sunny and I’ll take whatever I can get. I adapted the recipe by adding a couple more ingredients to the black beans and completely changed the store-bought coleslaw kit to my own mixture.  Cutting the few vegetables only added about 8 minutes to the prep time and I think the flavors are better than a bag of precut cabbage.  Also swapped the feta cheese in the original recipe for cotija, but that’s just due to preference so if you like feta better, use that.  Two tacos per person are more than enough to fill you up, especially if you enjoy them with a cold margarita.

Crispy Black Bean Tacos
makes 6 tacos
35 minutes

2 – 15 oz. cans of black beans, drained
1 tsp. ground cumin
½ tsp. coriander
¼ tsp. cayenne
pinch of oregano
salt + pepper
3 tbsp. chopped jalapeños {I used canned}
8 tbsp. olive oil, divided
2 tbsp. fresh lime juice
1 cup jicama, julienned
1 cup red cabbage, julienned
½ cup carrots, julienned
¼ cup white onions, diced
½ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
6 yellow corn tortillas
½ cup cotija cheese, finely grated
pre-made hot sauce or salsa {I used a chipotle salsa}

Place the beans, cumin, coriander, cayenne and oregano  in a bowl and mash slightly.  You can use the back of a spoon to do this – I used a cocktail muddler which made fast work of it.  Add the jalapeños, salt and pepper to taste; set aside.

In another bowl, mix 4 tbsp of the olive oil and the lime juice.  Add the jicama, cabbage, carrots, onions and cilantro. Toss gently.  Salt and pepper to taste; set aside.  

In a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, heat enough olive oil to coat the bottom.  Working in batches, add a tortilla, or depending on the size of you pan, two, in a single layer.  Add about 3 tbsp. of the bean mixture onto half of each tortilla.  Cook for 1 minute then fold tacos in half.  Cook on each side for 1 minute.  Remove tacos from heat and add some of the cheese and slaw mixture to each.  Serve with the hot sauce/salsa.