Veg*n Cooking and Other Random Musings: Spicy Chipotle Black Bean and Pineapple Tacos with Green Chile Taco Sauce

Monday, May 5, 2008

Spicy Chipotle Black Bean and Pineapple Tacos with Green Chile Taco Sauce

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

This meal was a slightly more 'experimental' idea that I had, but it turned out wonderfully. Both Brett and I weren't sure on our first bite, but in less than 10 minutes, the meal was gone!

And we both agreed, this taco sauce just plain rocks! Don't be turned off by the icky color, this stuff is fantastic.















Veggies for taco sauce.















Taco sauce simmering.















Green Chile Taco Sauce
8-10 Anaheim peppers
4 serrano peppers, seeded and minced
2 large tomatoes, chopped
2-4 tomatillos, husked and chopped
1/2 red onion, minced
5 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 cup white distilled vinegar

Preheat oven to 400.

Place whole Anaheim chilies on a baking sheet and roast for 15-20 minutes, until peppers soft and blistered, turning a few times through cooking.

Place chilies in a large bowl and cover with plastic wrap to steam, for about 15 minutes, this will loosen the skins for easy removal.

Remove stems and skins and chop.

Combine all ingredients in a pan and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 25-30 minutes, stirring a couple of times through cooking.

Transfer to a food processor and blend until very smooth.

This sauce will last about 2-3 weeks in the fridge and freezes well.

FOR: Tacos, Tostadas and Taco Salads















Spicy chipotle black bean filling.















Yum!















I thought this picture looked a little like a face. :-)

Spicy Chipotle Black Bean and Pineapple Tacos
1 cup black beans, cooked and warmed
1/4 red onion, diced
1 poblano pepper, seeded and minced
1 habanero, seeded and minced
2 serrano peppers, seeded and minced
2 chipotle chilies in adobo, miced
1 tsp sauce from chilies in adobo
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tbsp unseasoned brown rice vinegar
1 tbsp agave
cumin
ground coriander
Mexican oregano
salt

canned pineapple tid bits, drained.

hard taco shells
baby spinach
sliced avocado
Green Chile Taco Sauce

Heat a few tablespoons of water in a small skillet. Add the onion, peppers and garlic and cook for 10 minutes or until veggies soft. Drain any excess water.

Combine all the bean filling ingredients in a bowl and season to taste.

Layer spinach, bean filling and pineapple in warmed taco shells. Serve with sliced avocado and Green Chile Taco Sauce.

So yummy.

Hope everyone has a great Cinco de Mayo!

'Til next time.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Happy Cinco de Mayo to the Mexican Queen!! This day should be dedicated to your fantastic cooking!

Alicia said...

It would be a dream come true if one day I can cook one of your tasty sauces :-). I'm lacking most of the ingredients, so it'll have to wait! but one day, I will.
Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Lori- the Pleasantly Plump Vegan said...

i think yr sauces ALWAYS look amazing! you are talented.

jessy said...

happy cinco to you, too! and pineapple - BRILLIANT! i love it! and i'm gonna have to give it a try! mmmmmmmmm!

oh, good idea on the coleslaw + black bean burgers. later this week we're making "tex-mex" burgers and i'm totally gonna put some coleslaw on mine!

hooray for cinco de mayo!

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

Oh my goodness gracious, those tacos are PERFECT for CInco de Mayo - yum!!

Bianca said...

Yea happy Cinco de Mayo to you too!! I can't wait to see what you come up with tonight to celebrate.

I was planning on using your lentil/sweet potato taco recipe to celebrate, but Cinco de Mayo fell on my monthly first Monday raw food fast day. So I'm making raw tacos. However, I did buy tortillas and sweet potatoes and stuff to make your tacos later...I can't wait cause they sound so yum!

ChickPea said...

This is a great idea! One of my favorite things to order on campus is the black bean taco salad (I think I've posted it before) and smother it with pineapple salsa. Your dish reminds me of that, except yours is way more gourmet and tasty, I'm sure!

Anonymous said...

Happy Cinco de Mayo! I agree with Romina! haha

Lisa (Show Me Vegan) said...

Happy Cinco de Mayo Jennifer! That's a great idea to combine chipotle with pineapple- so creative!

ChocolateCoveredVegan said...

Happy Cinco de Mayo, girl! I love the idea of pineapple in tacos!

I’m especially envious that you’re growing your own butternut squash and broccoli, as these are two of my favorite foods. I wish you could come plant a garden for me! All we have this year are tomatoes, herbs, and purple peppers… oh well, better than nothing!

Animal-Friendly said...

The tacos with pineapple is such a great idea- I know I'll be trying that recipe!

Vegan_Noodle said...

How did I know that you would have something fantastic posted for Cinco de Mayo?!? I love pineapple mixed with mexican dishes. Tonight I had a mango salsa with pineapple in it, which was delicious.

J said...

Romina - Thanks so much! I wish you would tell that to my boss so I can have the day off next year! ;-)

Alice - Aw, that's so sweet to say! I'm sure you'll have the ingredients to make something on here one day.

Thanks, back at ya!

Pleasantly - Thank you! The color isn't always the best, but it's the flavor that matters. You are too kind.

Jessy - To be completely honest, I LOVED the idea of using pineapple 'cause it meant that I could make the beans REALLY spicy. When you pair really spicy food with bland or sweet food, it really tones it down.

Seriously, try it, you won't regret it!

:-)

Veggie Girl - Thank you!

Bianca - I actually didn't cook anything last night. :-( We had to go to the Peace Nook and pick up the beans, so we were pretty exhausted when we got home.

Those raw tacos look really good by the way. I hope you like those lentil tacos, they were really a hit in our house.

Chickpea - I want that salad! It sounds just as gourmet as this! Pineapple salsa? I'm going to have to see what I can do with that. I might have to create my own recipe. :-) I'll dedicate it to you of course!

Leng - Back at ya!

Lisa - You too! The chipotle worked really well with the pineapple. Your stuffed peppers looks amazing too!

Chocolate Covered - Happy Cinco de Mayo to you too Katie! These were really tasty!

Hahahahaha! Butternut and broccoli are two of my favorite things too. I just found out yesterday that tomatillos can be grown in Missouri, now I'm on a mission to find a starter plant.

Purple peppers?!?!? Thats it, Texas here I come!

Animal Friendly - They were really easy to make too!

Vegan Noodle - Mango salsa with pineapple? Another BRILLIANT idea! I might have to try that out as well, I've never had a fresh mango.

Monika K said...

Wow, Jennifer - this meal looks AMAZING! The sauce sounds delicious (I love the pepper/vinegar combination) and the idea of adding pineapple is making me drool a bit here as I type. What a fiesta you must have had!