Squash & Black Bean Tortillas

Squash is a tricky ingredient. It needs to be peeled, diced and the seeds need to be taken out. Somehow, though, I find the entire exercise quite satisfying (and not as disturbing as, say, chopping up an entire chicken). It feels as if I've made an effort. It's not really that much work - five minutes tops, if you have a sharp knife. And once you have some tasty bite-sized dice of squash, you can make some lovely things. This is a filling for tortillas.

Ingredients (serves 3-4)
2 shallots, finely sliced
1 butternut squash (approx. 1 kg), diced into bite-sized chunks
250 grams leftover boiled black beans

olive oil
2 tbsp tomato purée
3 dried bay leaves
3 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp dried chili flakes
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
sea salt
freshly ground pepper

150 grams feta cheese
plain flour tortillas

Fry the shallots with the bay leaves in plenty of olive oil until softened. Add the squash and tomato puree and stir until everything is covered in the puree. Add the beans, cumin, chili, vinegar, salt and pepper and 400 ml of water (two glasses). Stir and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to medium. Let the mixture boil for about 30 minutes or until the squash has softened. Serve in heated tortillas sprinkled with feta cheese.

The Accidental Vegetarian - Black Beans Nachos

Black beans! Such amazing things. I put 250 grams of stone-hard tiny black beans in water to soak overnight and the water turned a deep purple, the beans swelled up to twice their normal size and when I boiled them for about an hour they turned into deep purple soft little creamy bites. Yes, it takes some time to get them where you want them - but then they're very, very tasty indeed.

Top left: dried beans; top right: swollen beans;
bottom left: boiled beans; bottom right: black bean nachos.

Ingredients - for two

Boiled black beans

175 grams of dried black beans

3 dried bayleaves

1 onion, peeled and quartered

3 cloves of garlic, squashed but still in their little jackets

2 tsp salt

Fried black beans

The cooked beans (see below)

2 shallots, finely sliced

1 clove of garlic, finely chopped

olive oil

half a lime

Salsa

2 tomatoes, finely chopped

1 green chili, finely sliced

olive oil

half a lime

Extras

1 avocado, skin and pit removed, halved and sliced finely

100 grams of feta cheese

2/3 bag of tortilla chips

Cooking the beans (start the evening before)

Put the beans in plenty of cold water to soak overnight (I used half a litre). They will swell up. The next day, drain the beans and put in a pot with a litre of fresh cold water, the bayleaves, onion and garlic. Don't put in the salt yet (this will apparently keep the beans from going soft). Now bring the water to the boil and leave it boiling for 20 minutes. Then turn the heat down to low, add the salt and let the beans bubble away for another half an hour. Drain, then take out the bayleaves, onion and garlic.

Frying the beans

Heat up some olive oil in a frying pan. Fry the shallots and garlic until soft, then add the beans. Stir for a few minutes, then turn down the heat. Add the juice of half a lime. 

Serving

While the beans are frying, divide the tortilla chips over two plates, evenly covering the surface. Top with crumbled feta cheese. Put each plate in the microwave for 25 seconds at full power. Mix the tomatoes, chili and lime. Top the plates with the chips with the beans, avocado and tomato mixture. Serve and enjoy!

Pre-weekly Links & Recipe Tips

I order my groceries online, which makes it very easy to complement dishes and remember every ingredient. It takes me an hour, mostly spent looking into cookbooks and websites for crazy new ideas. So, as if I'm an organised person, I can tell you that next week, I'll eat:

Indian & Vegan
Chickpea, Potato & Spinach Jalfrezi with Chapattis & Poppodums

Mexican
Black Bean Tostadas with Avocado (from Thomasina Miers's Mexican Food Made Simple)
Corn Tacos with Squash, Chorizo & Pickled Pink Onions (same book)

Quick Vegetarian Pastas
Fresh Tagliatelle with Chestnut Mushrooms & Stilton (my own recipe - coming up soon!)
Fresh Tagliatelle Alla Putanesca (from Valentina Harris' Perfect Pasta)


Easy Oven Weekend Food
Baked Cod with Lemon Potatoes & Greens
Pork Belly Roast with Baby Potatoes (my own recipe - coming up soon!)

Already looking forward to it!