Two-Bean Tacos

If you're a somewhat regular visitor here, you might realize that tacos are a food group to me. Tacos are my specialty. Here are some of my many taco recipe incarnations:

• Spicy Lentil Tacos
• Vegan Chicken Tacos
• Vegan Steak Tacos
• Fab TVP Tacos
• Tempeh Tacos
• Black Bean Tacos
• Spicy Chickpea Tacos

Okay, now that we've covered the fact that I'm a taco ninja, lets move on to these awesome Two-Bean Tacos. I have been craving tacos for a few days, so I decided I definitely needed to gorge myself on eat some. Yesterday, I used my super-mega-rad electric pressure cooker to cook some chickpeas that I had soaked overnight. If you like cooking your own dried beans, you should consider a pressure cooker. Instead of the 90-120 minutes of cooking chickpeas, it took me about 15 minutes from start to finish. I could have cooked them about 1-2 minutes longer, but it's new to me and I haven't figured out exact times yet. Still, it saved me a ridiculous amount of time! I dig it. Big time.

Alrighty, so, I had some chickpeas just chilling in my fridge - begging to be eaten. Out of curiosity, I wanted to add another kind of bean to the tacos, so I added a can of pinto beans I had in the cupboard. I wasn't sure how they would taste together, but it turned out spectacularly. And, in my attempt to overcome my kale aversion, I substituted lettuce for chopped raw kale on my tacos. It was fucking awesome. I'm slowly embracing kale...and it's pretty fun.

This makes a lot of tacos. We ate 6 and still have enough left for 2-3 more tomorrow. 

What I used:

• 2 cups cooked chickpeas (or 1 can drained and rinsed)
• 1 can whole pinto beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 cup diced red onion
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 4 cremini or white mushrooms, chopped small
• 1-2 tsp coconut oil
• 1/2-3/4 cup salsa of your choice
• about 1 1/2 TB taco seasoning mix (I make my own: here)
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika (optional)

What I did:

1. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add the onions and cook about 4 minutes. Then add the garlic and mushrooms. Cook another 3 minutes. 
2. While the onions are cooking, pop the beans into a food processor and whir a few times. You don't want the beans pureed, but you don't want them whole (or they'll fall off the taco shells). 
3. Once the veg is done cooking, add the chopped beans to the skillet and mix everything up. Now, add the seasonings and salsa. Mix well and cook until heated through, about 5-8 minutes. Taste and add more spices or salsa as needed. The salsa should mostly be absorbed and it helps keep the beans from drying out while cooking. 

How easy was that?!