Fascinating Recipe-- Black-Bean Vegetarian Tacos

My sister-in-law came for a visit this last week, and all we did for over two days was watch movies, talk, laugh, and eat. She's a vegetarian, so when she visits, my challenge is to adapt my meat recipes to non-meat versions. This week, I "de-meatified" my taco recipe, and it turned out delicious. Here it is, and it's simple!

For the filling:
Ingredients--
2 15-ounce cans black beans (or pinto beans). Rinse and drain only one of the cans
1 T. lime juice (we buy the reconstituted kind in a small squeeze bottle)
1 t. salt (adjust to taste)
1T. red chili powder
2 t. cumin
1 clove garlic, minced
1 T. diced white or yellow onion

Directions--

1. Take one of the cans and empty it into a colander or strainer (make sure the holes are smaller than the beans!). Rinse and let drain.
2. Pour out the other can with all its juice into a saucepan, then empty the colander beans into the same saucepan. Now all the beans are together and happy.
3. Throw all the other ingredients into the saucepan with the beans. Stir and blend well. Now we're having FUN! Bean fun!
4. Put a lid on the saucepan and warm on medium heat until the beans get juicy and you can see the liquid get bubbly. (If you don't have a clear-glass lid like I do, then you'll have to keep peeking under the lid.)
5. After you see the beans get bubbly, turn down the heat to low and barely simmer with lid on for about 3 minutes. Don't boil! In fact, if you have one of those mini burners in the back of your stove, use that.
6. After the 3-minute simmer, turn the heat off. Stir gently, then put the lid back on to keep them warm. Don't overcook the beans.

For the shell: We use white-corn tortillas and fry them, but many people warm the tortillas over the burner and double them up for an oil-free taste. For us, it needs to taste like "fry" or just just isn't a taco. :D

Toppings: Good toppings are things such as chopped onions, chopped tomato, cheddar or feta cheese, salsa or pico de gallo, diced green chilies or jalapenos, shredded lettuce or cabbage, cilantro, sour cream, and guacamole. I used feta cheese on mine instead of the traditional cheddar. It was delicious!

Tacos have their own Wikipedia Page. Vegetarianism also has it's own Wikipedia Page

I found two vegan taco cook books: Vegan Tacos by Jason Wyrick and Vegan Tacos Recipes by Brittany Davis

Here are some other Vege Taco recipes: 15 Healthy Vegan Tacos;  Roasted Sweet Potato and Black Bean Tacos; Black Bean Tacos with Avocado Salsa; Sweet Potato and "Un-fried" Bean Tacos; Crispy Black-Bean Tacos with Feta and Cabbage Slaw; Black Bean Tacos with Zucchini Salsa; Quinoa Black Bean and Corn Tacos