Crispy Black Bean Tacos with Feta and Cabbage Slaw

I love feta! I love it on fresh green salads, in greek pita pockets, and now in black bean tacos with slaw. It really adds a great flavor to this fun little meatless taco. Enjoy!

Crispy Black Bean Tacos with Feta and Cabbage Slaw
(Bon Appetit)

Ingredients:
1 15 oz. can of black beans, drained
1/2 Tsp ground cumin
5 Tsp olive oil, divided
1 Tbsp lime juice
2 Cups coleslaw mix (I used fresh shredded cabbage)
2 green onions, chopped
1/3 Cup cilantro, chopped
4 white or yellow corn tortillas
1/3 Cup crumbled feta cheese
Bottled hot sauce

Place beans and cumin in a bowl; partially mash. Mix 2 teaspoons olive oil and lime juice in a medium bowl; add coleslaw, green onions, cilantro and toss to coat. Season slaw to taste with salt and pepper.

Heat 3 teaspoons olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-heat. Add tortillas in a single layer. Spoon 1/4 of bean mixture onto each tortilla; cook 1 minute. Fold tacos in half. Cook until golden brown, about 1 minute per side. Fill tacos with feta, slaw and hot sauce.

*Jayne's Notes: I used fresh flour tortillas instead of frying the corn tortillas for less fat. The bottled hot sauce of choice in our family is Tapatio and a shake of it tasted great on this taco.

Mexican Lasagna

We have arrived! These past few weeks we moved from Colorado to southern California so I apologize for the delay in posting. Now that we're settled I have lots of yummy recipes that have accumulated and I'm ready to share. To celebrate our new north of the border home I'll share this yummy Mexican Lasagna recipe with you. This is a family favorite from a 1996 'Keeping Pace' newsletter. My husband really enjoyed the meal and he joked how his wife is a Pace Picante fan. It's true and Pace is really the secret ingredient to this recipe so don't substitute.

Mexican Lasagna

(from Pace Picante 1996 Spring newsletter with alterations by my mom Ruth)

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

1 lb ground beef

1 large green pepper, chopped (about 1 cup)

1 medium spanish onion 

2 c traditional spaghetti sauce

1 1/2 c Pace Picante sauce

1 T chili powder

8 flour tortillas (6-inch)

2 c shredded cheddar cheese

2 cans (2 1/2 oz each) sliced olives

2 green onions

Saute yellow onion and bell pepper until starting to brown. Add beef and cook until browned. Drain off fat. Add spagetti sauce, 1 cup picante sauce and chili powder. Heat to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cook 10 minutes.

In 3-quart shallow baking dish spread remaining picante sauce. Arrange 4 tortillas in dish. Top with half the beef mixture, half the cheese and half the olives. Repeat layers. Sprinkle diced green onions over top.

Bake at 350F for 20 minutes or until hot. Let stand 5 minutes. Serves 8.

*We added the yellow onion to the beef mixture for flavor and the sprinkled green onion on top for color.

Quick Fish Tacos & Homemade Tarter Sauce

We had fish tacos for dinner tonight. I don't think I have ever eaten a frozen fish stick in my life so I was wary about this recipe but Rachelle has awesome taste so I was trusting when she said this was 'dinner worthy'. We all really enjoyed this tasty treat, especially me because I had dinner ready and on the table in 10 minutes flat!!
Just a quick note: The homemade tarter sauce MAKES this meal! Substituting store-bought tarter just won't cut it. (Store-bought tarter + frozen fish = blah!)

Quick Fish Tacos and Homemade Tartar Sauce
an original recipe (and photo) by rachelle at fashionably foodie

12 fish sticks (Use a high quality fish for the best tacos. You'll regret it if you don't!)
12 corn tortillas
1 recipe homemade tartar sauce
shredded cabbage or lettuce
limes

Preheat oven and start chopping cabbage or lettuce and halving limes. Warm tortillas in with a wet paper towel wrapped around them in the microwave. (These are best simply with warm tortillas, not fried.) Put fish sticks in the oven and mix up the tartar sauce. Serve tacos in shells with a layer of shredded cabbage or lettuce, a piece of fish, a big drizzle of sauce and a squeeze of lime.

Homemade Tartar Sauce

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sweet relish
2 Tablespoons ketchup (optional)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Mix well.

'Flavor-full' Chicken Quesadillas

**This recipe is from the Food Network show Quick Fix Meals. These quesadillas are absolutely delicious! Don't be afraid to use the red onions or artichokes. I went light on the amounts of these because I too was nervous but you can hardly taste them in the final product. Also, I couldn't find the roasted red peppers so I just grilled a few red bell peppers myself. YUM!!


Cooking spray
2 cooked chicken breast halves
8 (6 to 8-inch) flour tortillas
1/2 cup chopped red onions
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup sliced roasted red peppers (from water-packed jar)
1/2 cup sliced artichokes (from water-packed can or jar)
1/4 cup shredded Monterey jack or pepper jack cheese, for each quesadilla

Coat a large skillet or griddle with cooking spray. Set pan over medium heat to preheat. Using a fork, pull chicken meat in shreds.

Arrange tortillas on a flat surface. Top 1 side of each tortilla with an equal amount of chicken, mushrooms, red peppers, and artichokes. Top vegetables with shredded cheese. Fold over tortillas, making a half moon. Place quesadillas in (or on) prepared pan and cook 3 minutes per side, until golden brown and cheese melts.