Pure Imagination- Veggie Tacos

Sorry about being gone for a bit there. I'm always doing that, huh? Saying I'm back and then wandering away, no doubt distracted by some shiny object. Well, you see, the deal with last week was there was a lot of schedule shifting going on, and so dinners didn't go exactly as planned. And when things don't go as planned, it usually means that we're falling back on stand-by meals I've already shared, frozen burritos, or grabbing a quick bite out. And I can't exactly snap a pic of my Chipotle burrito bol and be all, "Look y'all, I eated this". So, yeah, that was the deal with last week. Which is a shame, cause I was planning to try a new recipe out. That didn't happen, but I tried to turn that into a bonus last night, and it worked! I decided Sunday morning while doing my menu planning that I needed to get to work using up our corn tortillas. I thought I'd take a stab at making up some veggie tacos, especially since I had an onion and squash on hand for that recipe that I didn't get to make. These turned out really yummy! And, thanks to some early effort, pretty quick too. I normally have a couple heads of lettuce and some other veggies to clean and chop after our grocery shopping, so that I can make our lunch and dinner salads throughout the week. While I was doing just that this weekend I also chopped up some of the veggies for my taco filling, cutting down the pre-eating prep work last night. I also got a little imaginative when it came to putting the tacos together. Originally I was going to make some spicy black beans on the side, but I had the idea to instead mash the beans and spread them on my warmed tortillas. It was one less thing going on the stove, and it helped keep the taco fillings in the tortillas. So, let's see what my little mind cooked up.

Veggie Tacos
Recipe by moi; Makes 8 tacos

Olive oil
1 large russett potato, scrubbed and diced
1/4 onion, diced
1 bell pepper, diced
1 jalapeno, seeded and ribbed, large mince
1 zucchini or yellow squash, quartered and sliced
1 cup sliced mushrooms, roughly chopped
8 corn tortillas
1 15 oz. can black beans, mostly drained
Garlic powder
Ground cumin
Pepper Jack cheese, shredded
Salsa

• Heat olive oil over medium heat in a skillet. Add diced potatoes and allow to cook, stirring occasionally, until starting to brown and soften. Add salt and pepper.
  
• Meanwhile, mash your black beans in a bowl, adding garlic powder and ground cumin to taste. You want to keep a little liquid with your beans to make a smooth mash.
• Add your bell pepper, onion, jalapeno, and squash to the potatoes. Allow to cook for several minutes, stirring occasionally, and then add the mushrooms. Cook for a few minutes more, until mushrooms have started to soften.
  
• While veggies finish cooking, wrap tortillas in damp paper towels and warm in microwave for 30 seconds - 1 minute. Spread your beans on each tortilla, warm in microwave for 15- 30 seconds if you wants your beans to be warmed.
• Top your tortillas with veggie mixture, cheese, and salsa of your choice.

My notes: Just cook the vegetables until they are softened to your liking. My potatoes were a little undercooked, but it made for a nice texture. And definitely add your mushrooms last, you don't want them to get too soft. They add a nice meaty texture to the filling. We had three tacos each, and there was a little filling leftover. The only other thing we had with these were small side salads, so if you were serving any other side dish I would say two tacos per person is a good serving and just equally distribute your filling. I had two tacos with salsa verde, and one with picante. Both were delicious, so you go where your taste buds take you. I think this filling would also be great with some scrambled eggs. Breakfast tacos anyone?