Black Bean Tacos

I love taco night. Dave and I have made tacos together since the early dating days. And trust me, that was longer ago than I care to admit. I thought I'd found the best vegetarian taco out there when I made Roasted Chickpea Tacos for the first time last year. Those are still my favorite go-to taco recipe, and I have enjoyed them numerous times for lunch and dinner. Dave would always eat them without groaning, but he was never as impressed as I was/am. This black bean version was one we both loved. I found this recipe posted on Endless Simmer through Pinterest. These tacos are so simple, yet flavorful. We topped ours with some avocado and Greek yogurt. I highly recommend you try this recipe sometime soon. This would be a perfect weeknight dinner for the start of the school year.

You will need:
*2 cups canned or cooked black beans
*1/2 cup. red onion, minced

*1 teaspoon cumin
*
1 teaspoon paprika
*
2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped

*4-6 ounces pepper jack cheese, grated

*2 tablespoons olive oil
, plus additional oil for cooking

*pinch of salt and pepper
*8 corn tortillas

*optional toppings: avocado, hot sauce, 
salsa
, sour cream or Greek yogurt


1. Preheat oven to 250 and place a foil-lined baking sheet on the center rack.

2. In a medium bowl, combine black beans with red onion, cilantro, and spices. Add a pinch of salt and lightly stir all ingredients together. No worries if you mash the beans a bit.

3. Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Once heated, add one corn tortilla at a time and let sit for a few seconds to heat. Then add about 1/4 cup of the bean filling to one half of the tortilla. Top with a sprinkle of grated cheese. Use a spatula to carefully fold the tortilla over so it forms a shell. Press the spatula down lightly on the tortilla so it holds its shape. Cook for about 3 minutes. Flip the taco to cook the other side. Use a spatula to help you flip the taco toward to fold to keep the filling in place.

4. You can add more tortillas as the tacos cook.  Depending on your skillet, you should be able to cook about 3 at a time. Once a taco is finished, place it on the baking sheet in the oven to keep warm.

5. Enjoy with whichever toppings you'd like.

Roasted Red Pepper and Goat Cheese Pasta

Prevention RD is a fabulous blog and one of my favorite recipe sources. Nicole always posts the nutritional info and a result for each recipe. As soon as she posted this dish it went on my weekly menu. Believe or not, we had not had a pasta dish in a long time. I'm sure pasta will make more of an appearance when the weather gets colder again. The overabundance of zucchini right now is a perfect reason for you to make this quick dinner soon. If anyone has a lot of produce from their successful garden, feel free to send it my way! Maybe next year I'll attempt growing food. Right now we're still focusing on grass.

You will need:
*10 ounces dry whole wheat pasta- I used rotini
*15 ounce can fire roasted diced tomatoes

*5 ounces goat cheese

*12 ounce jar roasted red pepper, drained
*
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

*2 small-medium sized zucchinis, sliced into 1/4 inch half moons
*
salt and pepper, to taste

1. Boil water in a pot and salt lightly; add pasta and cook according to the box directions (Usually around 9-11 minutes) Drain and set aside.

2. While your pasta is cooking, combine tomatoes, goat cheese, and peppers in a food processor and pulse until smooth. (You could use a blender if you do not own a food processor)

3. Heat the olive oil in a large sauce pan. Add the zucchini along with some salt and pepper and saute about 3 minutes until the zucchini begins to soften. Add the goat cheese sauce mixture and simmer for about 7 minutes or until heated through.

4. Combine the pasta and sauce. Serve immediately.

Biscoff Frozen Yogurt

As soon as I saw this ice cream recipe posted on Katie's Cucina I wanted it. Immediately. (I'm not always the most patient person in the world) I am also someone that really shouldn't eat ice cream. I love it, but it does not love me. I can have cheese, skim milk, and yogurt, but cream makes my stomach hurt. Usually every year as soon as the weather is warm, I drag Dave out for ice cream. I immediately regret not getting frozen yogurt and spend the whole night whining about the pain I am in. Luckily, once or twice a season is all it takes to remind me that avoiding ice cream is worth it.

I also needed a recent reason to use the jar of Biscoff spread aside from just dipping a spoon in it daily. These wants and needs led to making this Greek frozen yogurt adaptation of Katie's recipe. I've successfully used the Purple Cow recipe amounts to make a number of yogurt bases. This is one of my absolute favorites. The Greek yogurt tang is still slightly there but is well balanced by how sweet the Biscoff tastes. I don't think this is going to last long in our freezer!

You will need:
*1 cup Biscoff Spread + 2 tablespoons
*3 cups plain Greek yogurt (2%) nonfat does not work for frozen yogurt....it would for popsicles though!
*1 teaspoon vanilla extract
*3/4 cup sugar

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat sugar and yogurt until smooth. Add one cup of Biscoff spread and continue to mix until creamy. Stir in the vanilla. Cover the mixture and chill in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

2. Stir the chilled yogurt mixture and then pour/spoon it into your ice cream maker. Churn for about 20-30 minutes depending on your ice cream maker. (I did 20 minutes in my Kitchen Aid attachment)

3. Stir in the additional 2 tablespoons of Biscoff. Place in an airtight freezable container. Freeze for a couple hours before serving; Freeze up to one week.

Note: Frozen yogurt often freezes more solid than ice cream. Allow it to sit at room temperature for about 5-10 minutes before serving. If you scoop earlier, the frozen yogurt chips off more like ice.