Cabbage and Black Bean Tacos

Ok, so as you all know I can be real procrastinator.  Its been over three months since my last post and I tried a lot of new recipes without posting a single one.  Tonight's post came about because my sweet wife asked me politely (in that tone that says if you don't do you'll be sorry) to write down the recipe for the southwest coleslaw we used on tonight's tacos.  She said it was the best slaw she ever had.

 The menu tonight was supposed to be taco's (the old boring hard shell normal kind) but my oldest daughter decided the other day to use the lettuce for a salad snack and what's crunchy taco without lettuce.   So I had to improvise with what I had on had.   Let's see, I have cabbage, hard shell tacos, ground beef, tomatoes and the pantry.  So after a little research and thinking I came up with the idea to make a cabbage and black bean taco.

The basic's of the taco is similar to our old simple standby, but I decided to step it up by add black beans to the ground beef and replace the lettuce (which I was now out of) with a cabbage or slaw.  Raw cabbage didn't seem to inspire me so I checked in the spice cupboard and that's when I got the idea for the slaw.  Not just a regular southern slaw though, I needed to compliment the Taco / Southwest idea.

When you understand principles of ingredients and techniques, changing recipes can be pretty simple most of the time.  So I started with the thinly sliced cabbage, mayo and apple sauce vinegar and added some chopped dried onion, Montreal Steak Seasoning, and Kirkland Signature Sweet Mesquite Seasoning (the basis of many of my rubs and almost worth having a Costco membership alone).  Now don't ask me for the measurement, I just mixed until it looked right and tossed with the cabbage.

So we filled the taco's with the seasoned ground beef it topped it with the slaw, diced tomatoes, and shredded cheese.  How simple and delicious (did I forget the black beans???  Becky was handling the taco meat and forgot them so they never made it into these tacos, maybe next time.)

For now, enjoy.

Strawberry Agua Fresca

Agua Fresca is a simple drink that originated among the street vendors of Mexico. Literally translated it means "fresh water" and over the past few years, this delightfully refreshing beverage has spread throughout the Americas and to the United States. Simply put, agua fresca is a fruit-infused drink that is clean, fresh and flavorful. Today's variety pays homage to the Strawberry, one of my favorite fruits and one that is at the peak of ripeness this time of the year.

Strawberry Agua Fresca

Yields: 6-8 cups

4 cups water

1/2 cup sugar (or sugar substitute)

6 cups hulled strawberries

1/4 cup fresh lime juice (about 2 limes)

Combine water and sugar, stirring until sugar dissolves. Place strawberries in a blender and blend until smooth. Combine sugar water, strawberry puree, and lime juice. Stir well and enjoy.

CALORIES 71; FAT 0.4 g; PROTEIN 0.8 g; FIBER 2.3 g; CHOL 0 mg; IRON 0.5 mg; SODIUM 4 mg; CALC 21 mg.

Recipe from Cooking Light, Cooking through the Seasons; Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner