Winter Squash Tacos [recipe]

We make rice and beans and tacos all the time.  We have even changed the way we make them to incorporate the seasons.  So in the height of summer, our tacos are all dressed up with tomato salsa, colorful peppers, fresh garlic, lots of greens from the garden, and cilantro piled high!  This Autumn we figured we would just keep experimenting with our tacos to keep them in season too.  We have had great success with black bean and sweet potato with onions and other root vegetables.  This week the abundance of squash let me try tacos with squash too!

Experimenting is proving to be quite tasty!

Now as we are truly reaching winter, the cilantro is gone and the salsa stash is waning, but the flavors are different and lovely!   We use a homemade taco recipe and then cook rice in stock and beans in stock as directed by their own instructions.

We are hitting up the squash as a dressing or  base under whatever other veggies we can find to top the pile with beans and rice.  These tacos are on the sweeter side of our palate, but that’s what we crave and want in these winter months.  It faintly reminds me of the avocado slices I love to top my tacos with in the summertime.  A calm, smooth texture and flavor that rounds out the whole taco spicy experience.

Winter Squash Tacos

Ingredients

• 1 cup winter squash puree
• 12 whole wheat tortillas
• 1 cup cooked black beans
• 1 cup  cooked brown long grain rice
• 1 sweet potato chopped finely
• 1 medium to large onion diced
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 2-3 teaspoons cumin
• salt and pepper to taste
• a quarter of a red cabbage chopped finely
• 1 shredded chopped carrot
• at most a tablespoon of lime or lemon juice
• big handful of chopped cilantro (if you have it in season!!) or a heaping Tablespoon if you have dried cilantro
• optional toppings: salsa, cheese, salad,

Procedure

1. Chop your onion and toss in oil and onion in the pan with a pinch of salt and pepper, over medium heat until the onion is golden and sweating.

2. Chop, shred, or food process the cabbage and carrots together into a slaw.  Add a splash of lime or lemon juice and sprinkle in chopped or dry cilantro. Set aside until tacos are ready to eat.

3. Toss sweet potato into the onion pan and cook through.

4. Mix beans and rice into pan with veggies and add seasonings to your taste. Add cumin, salt, pepper.

5. When this pan smells delicious let it cool slightly and warm up your tortillas.

6. Spread a good layer of squash on the center of your taco and dress up with bean and rice mixture topping with slaw you made at the beginning!  Add winter greens if you have them and salsa or cheese! Enjoy!