Black Bean Tacos with Lime Infused Rice

I know I haven't finished part 3 of my European Adventure, but I made these yummy black bean tacos the other night, and I just couldn't wait to share it with you! More of my adventure to come soon, but in the mean time - enjoy!

One thing I adore about tacos is that there are literally endless possibilities for ingredients, flavor combos, textures, and presentations. The resourceful cook (and scattered cook alike!) can cultivate any number of wildly different and seriously mouthwatering recipes by ever so slightly tweaking ingredients, adding fresh herbs, trying out flavored rices and tortillas, adding different types of beans or tofu, grilling, sauteing, chilling, infusing, adding hot sauces, cheeses - whatever your heart desires! In fact, you could probably have tacos every day of the week and never eat the same thing twice! That may be going a little far, but you get the point.

Due to its aforementioned versatility, tacos are a steady thing around these parts, and with the bounty of agreeable veggies during the summer months, you simply can't go wrong!

For this particular recipe I combined lime infused white rice, black beans, and a few simple toppings that paired well, looked great, and tasted even better!

Getting Started:

Since your rice will take the longest to cook, you want to start by getting that going. I used white rice instead of brown for a change, but you could certainly make it with brown if you prefer. I've also used jasmine rice before, oddly enough, and it turned out surprisingly tasty!

Depending on what kind of rice you are using, there may be different cooking times, so check your package for instructions. I substituted 1 cup of the needed water for equal amounts veggie broth, added a teaspoon of butter, 2 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lime juice (about 1 juicy lime's worth), the zest from two limes, and salt to taste. (I used this recipe for ratios).

Make sure to rinse your rice thoroughly beforehand and avoid stirring while cooking to prevent the rice from becoming sticky.

While the rice is cooking, slice your radishes, avocado, and lime; and chop up your desired amount of green onions and cilantro for garnish.

Just a side note about the radishes - I've never been a huge fan of their taste. I always love how vibrant and beautiful they are with their intense red skin and earthy roots, but just have not been able to reconcile their flavor and that weird thing they do to my tongue, which may or may not be an allergic reaction (am I  the only one here?).

Nevertheless, they are so pretty and sad sitting there with no one to buy them (at least it seems), that I simply cannot resist tossing them in my basket on a fairly regular basis just to see if I still don't like them. Well! If you are in the same boat as I am and don't care as much for the rueful radish, I have the solution! Simply slice the radishes as thin as humanly possible (please don't cut yourself, people!). This allows for just a hint of radish flavor that won't overpower your taste buds, and looks absolutely gorgeous. Case closed!

About 5-10 minutes before the rice is done, start preparing your black beans. I decided to try sauteing the beans this time, which I had never done before and thought was a truly inspired idea. I did this by simply adding a little olive oil to a skillet and cooking until they started to split, adding a little salt to taste. But, to be truthful, I could not tell the difference between the sauteed beans and non sauteed beans, so I think I'll skip this step in the future.

Wrapping it Up

Now all that's left is browning your tortillas in a little olive oil over medium heat. I used a really yummy artisan, green chili tortilla that I find at my local SaveMart. It browns up nicely and has a really mild flavor that goes well with anything. Then simply assemble your tacos to your liking, add an extra, healthy squeeze of lime, and devour - nom nom nom!

 

Ingredients

1 cup white rice, rinsed

2-3 limes

1 cup vegetable broth

1 tsp butter

1, 15oz can low sodium black beans, rinsed

1 avocado, sliced

3-4 radishes, thinly sliced

1-2 green onions, diced

Cilantro, roughly chopped

Lime wedges for garnish

Sour cream, optional

1 package of small tortillas (I used La Tortilla Factory brand, green chili flavor)

Olive oil for sauteing and browning

Salt to taste

4-6 servings

Stay tuned for the final chapter of my European Adventure and a new pasta recipe inspired by this!

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