black bean tacos with slaw and feta

So, it's time for me to reveal my not-so-secret love affair with The Smitten Kitchen. The website, written by Deb Perelman, was founded in 2006, but I found it in 2012 when I was faced with a brand new kitchen, a local Trader Joe's, and no clue what to buy or cook. Her cookbook, published in 2012, was part of my Christmas present last year. Deb's recipes have never led me wrong, and I feel so much more confident in the kitchen with her kind words and lovely anecdotes by my side. Go check her out, if you haven't already. Today's recipe? Black bean tacos (already right up my street) with homemade slaw and feta cheese. Yum, yum, yum.

On the night that I made these, I was out of ideas for dinner. Cooking chicken – or any meat, really – seemed too strenuous. I was too hungry for a salad, too broke to order takeout, and too proud to drive to my mom's house and mooch off of whatever she was having. That left me on my phone in a Wal-Mart parking lot looking at the "Weeknight Favorites" section of The Smitten Kitchen. This recipe was waiting for me. Ten ingredients, all under $5, and two of which were already sitting in my pantry. I ran inside, picked up a cart, and the rest was history. These could have been done in ten minutes, though I'm a "cooking in parts" kind of gal, so I made the slaw when I got home, heated the beans while watching TV, and did the assembly a bit later. They are so simple to make, and it would be easy to add meat if you wanted to – ground beef or ground turkey would be particularly good, I think – though the recipe doesn't feel like it lacks anything without it.

 Yields 4 tacos
slightly adapted from smittenkitchen.com

1 15-ounce can seasoned black beans, drained (I used Bush's Seasoned Black Beans)

cumin, to taste

1 teaspoon and 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1 cups coleslaw mix

1 green onion, chopped

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

4 corn tortillas

1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese

hot sauce, salsa, & sour cream, to serve

Whisk together 2 teaspoons of olive oil and lime juice. Add coleslaw mix, green onions, and chopped cilantro. Mix until combined, and add salt and pepper to taste – I ended up using a lot of salt and not very much pepper.

Pour drained beans and cumin into a small saucepan over medium heat until the beans are heated through. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mash beans partially once heated.

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat, and pour off the excess oil. Add tortillas, as many as can fit into your pan without overlapping. Spoon approx. 1/4 of the bean mixture onto the middle of each tortilla and cook for 1 minute. Fold tacos in half (I found a spatula/wooden-spoon combo helpful here) and cook on each side until golden brown, about 2 minutes total. Fill tacos with feta and slaw, and serve quickly with hot sauce, salsa, & sour cream on the side.

Bonus: Guess who set off the smoke alarm! The produce bag from the cilantro earned its keep today.