Tacos are the perfect vehicles for piling on flavor, color, and most importantly, nutrients. Over are the days of greasy, fatty meat tacos, drowned in sauce and covered in cheese. Approaching a taco from both a taste and health perspective is fun to practice because you can build them both colorful and delicious. These tacos provide another creative and simple recipe to make a traditional meat swap. Why the swap? Switching out black beans for meat and adding corn increases the amount of fiber on your plate. Consumption of these complex carbohydrates are very important for promoting a healthy gut microbiome.
Learning Objectives
Learn how to make a crave-worthy meat swap for traditional tacos. Build a better taco that is low on saturated fat and nutrient deficient calories, and instead, is full of plants and fiber, with balanced flavors that pop.
Level Ups (optional)
There are many ways to level up this recipe! Add on guacamole (recipe here) or diced avocado, chopped cilantro, and more salsas such as VEBA’s mango-lime salsa (recipe here) or Pico de Gallo. Chopped red onions, white onion or sliced green onions add an extra kick. We also recommend plain Greek yogurt or sour cream, lime wedges, sliced radishes, cheese, and shredded cabbage to really make this a complete meal!
Substitutions (optional)
Substitute tofu or tempeh for the black beans, and you can use whole lettuce leaves in place of the tortillas.
Notes
Use our taco seasoning for this dish. Click here for the recipe.
Equipment Needed
A medium or large sauté pan
Heat-proof large spatula or wooden spoon
A can opener if using canned black beans
Measuring spoons
Ingredients
- 1-2 Tbsp olive oil
- ½ medium onion, diced
- 2 packages of taco seasoning mix (see Notes for recipe) or 2 tsp chili Powder, 1 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp onion powder, 1 tsp ground black pepper and 1 tsp ground coriander
- ½ tsp salt (if not using taco seasoning)
- 1 each 15 ounce can of black beans, drained
- 1 cup corn kernels (either removed from 2 cobs of corn or from a package)
- 1-2 Tbsp prepared salsa
- 8 each corn tortillas, warmed or whole lettuce leaves
Directions
- Add the oil to the sauté pan and heat until hot.
- Add the onion and cook until soft (about 5 minutes).
- Add the salt and spices.
- Add black beans, corn and salsa and heat all the way through.
- Remove from the heat and divide into the warm corn tortillas.
- Add any optional toppings.
