Spaghetti Squash and Black Bean Tacos

March 18, 2013

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Happy Tuesday people!

How are we all doing?

Me . . . Im doing pretty well, although my poor little girl is sick with a miserable cold I can’t complain.

How was your weekend? Did you get your St Patricks Day festivities on? We sure did . . . and when I say “we did” I mean we got ourselves all painted up in our team St Patrick’s day colours and toasted with a shamrock shake or 2, 3, 4 . . . I may have lost count (←read totally, absolutely did). I’m totally addicted!

And here we are back to good old tuesday . . . I wish I had some super fun anecdote or story to tell you but I gotta be honest here people . . . I got nothin’

Zip

Zilch

Zeeerrrrooooooo

What I do have though is one killer “test it out tuesday” recipe to share.

This week we are working from the delectable pages of the one and only Smitten Kitchen Cookbook and we are getting our mexican on.

ole’ ← yes really I just said that . . . and did a little spanish heel click and overhead arm twist too . . . you know the move I mean . . . you know you do . . . anyways, moving on.

Tacos . . . but not just any old tacos, these tacos are totally vegetarian and are a little different from the usual. But don’t let that put you off, these babies are incredible. Stuffed with mexican spiced spaghetti squash, black beans and finished with a divine little sprinkling of feta.

Ah-mazing!!!

Really, truly incredible!

If you cant get your hands on spaghetti squash, which can be a little tricky to find here in Australia, you could sub brown rice or even quinoa here if you can get your hands on some spaghetti squash (its sometimes called vegetable spaghetti, not to be confusing at all – sorry, I got mine from Harris Farm Market and have friends and family who have been able to order it in from other fruit/veg stores, don’t be afraid to ask people, if you don’t ask you don’t get :))).

So, the tacos . . . the spaghetti squash is seasoned with all your traditional mexican spices, feel free to adjust the seasonings to suit your tastes (aka – kick up the chilli if you like things hot hot hot, me . . . I like some heat but not to much, do what you feel people, do what you feel).

The mexican spices have a subtle but serious kick to these tacos and the black beans give it a substantial sort of “meatiness” if that makes any sense, and then to finish things off we add a sprinkling of feta . . . which of course just makes everything better.

FYI – I also highly recommend adding a dallop of your fave greek yoghurt if you find things getting a leetle to spicy, it totally helps cool things down which means you can eat more tacos and eating more tacos = winning right?! Oh you know I’m right.

So . . . tacos . . . get on it!

Spaghetti Squash and Black Bean Tacos
Re-written in my own words and very slightly adapted from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook
Serves 4-8

Ingredients –

3 lbs (1360g) spaghetti squash/vegetable spaghetti (roughly 1 large or 2 small)

Juice from 1/2 a lime

1/4 teaspoon chili powder

3/4 teaspoon smoked paprika

3/4 teaspoon ground cumin

3/4 teaspoon ground coriander

1 can (15oz/440g) of black beans rinsed and drained

2 Tablespoons of feta cheese (My current fave is Lemons)

Freshly chopped parsley

16 mini tortillas

Method –

1 – Preheat oven to 175’C (350″F), line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

2 – To cook the squash, slice in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds, season flesh with salt and pepper and roast facedown for approx 40 mins until softened. Allow to cool slightly, then using a fork the “spaghetti” strands should come loose easily when you loosen/scrape them out into a large bowl.

3 – In a small bowl or jug whisk together lime juice, chill, paprika, cumin, coriander, salt and pepper.

4 – Pour lime/spice dressing over the squash and gently toss to combine. Taste and adjust seasons to suit your personal preference.

5 – Warm tortillas and then we are ready to assemble.

6 – To assemble/serve top each tortilla with a generous helping of black beans followed by a big ol’ scoop of squash, then add a few slices of avocado, a dollop of greek yoghurt and finish with a sprinkling of feta and parsley.

This is living people, this is living!