Recipe/ Vegetarian

Fresh & Healthy Veggie Friendly Tacos

I don’t get nearly enough vegetables these days.
 
Fresh-Veggie-Taco-Recipe
I used to love eating vegetables. They were always my favorite part of a meal and I had this saying, see? It was this: The sign of a great chef, isn’t whether they can grill a steak properly or fillet a fish – it’s if they can make veggies interesting. Profound, right?
 
Mango-Red-Onion-Salsa

Don’t get me wrong – it’s not like I don’t think the greenery isn’t good on its own. It totally is. I could chew on raw kale or cauliflower or tomatoes for as many hours as the day is long – which, admittedly, is not very right now. Is it just me or are dusk and dawn nipping at each other’s heels right now?

Anyhow, I guess that sums it up. There’s not much sun and there’s also not many vegetables. And I miss them. 
 
Quick-Dinner-Ideas-Tacos

Consider myself darn tootin’ lucky then that I got the blog I did for Secret Recipe Club this month: We Heart Vegan.

Brittany started her blog as a way to show everyone that good vegan food can not only be healthy, but also cheap and appealing to everyone. Eating real allows us to be the best that we can be – especially when there’s squash* involved!
 
Bean-Tacos
I did make a couple small changes to her original recipe. First, I roasted my squash in the oven instead of sauteing it because I wanted to incorporate as much color onto the veggies as possible to enhance the flavor – even my biggest frying pan couldn’t get it all in for one go.Second, I had a couple extra things on hand that needed to be used, namely the peppers, radicchio and limes, so I chucked ’em in. Don’t be put off by the ingredient list – there really aren’t that many and as with any good taco recipe, it all comes together quite quickly.
 

Delicious-Taco-Recipe

This is definitely fresh. It’s definitely healthy. It’s definitely veggie friendly. And I’ll definitely be making these again – they’ve made the weekly rotation! Success!

Fresh & Healthy Veggie Friendly Tacos

Prep

Total

Yield 6 tacos

Ingredients

  • 3 Hard Taco Shells per person (see if you can find organic to avoid GMO).
  • 2 Medium-sized Zucchini, diced.
  • 2 Medium-sized Winter Squash (butternut), peeled, cored & cut into 1" cubes.
  • 1 Taco Seasoning Packet OR make your own!
  • 1/2 Tsp Cumin.
  • 1/4 Tsp Cayenne Pepper.
  • 1 14oz Can Chopped Stewed Tomatoes, drained.
  • 3/4 C Corn (fresh or canned).
  • 1 14oz Can Favorite Beans (Pinto), drained and rinsed.
  • 1 Avocado, diced.
  • 1 Bell Pepper, cored & diced.
  • 1/2 Medium-Sized Red Onion, diced.
  • 1 Mango, peeled & diced.
  • Handful of Cilantro, chopped.
  • Fresh Ground Black Pepper and Coarse Sea Salt.
  • Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
  • 2 Limes for Juice + 1 Lime for serving.
  • 2 Bird's Eye Chilies (spicy!), thinly chopped to serve.
  • 1/2 Radicchio, chopped to serve.

Instructions

  1. Pre-heat your oven to 450 degrees F. As that heats, throw the Winter squash in a shallow roasting pan and drizzle with olive oil and a good helping of salt and pepper. Mix well to ensure even coverage and arrange as a single layer. Place in hot oven and roast for 15-22 minutes or until the squash is fork tender and slightly caramelized. You may need to shake the pan every 7 minutes or so to ensure even coloring.
  2. While that's in the oven, make the rest of the taco biz...
  3. In a large saute pan, heat a couple glugs of oil over medium-high heat and add the diced zucchini. Season with salt and pepper to taste and allow cook 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally. You want the zucchini to caramelize a bit before adding the rest of the ingredients.
  4. When you start to see color on the outside, add the bell pepper. Cook for a further 3 minutes, then add the seasoning packet (or homemade taco mix) along with the spices, stewed tomatoes, corn and beans. Cook until heated through and softened.
  5. Just before serving: In a separate bowl, combine the onion, avocado, cilantro, mango, juice of 2 limes and salt and pepper to taste. Stir well.
  6. Heat the taco shells according to package directions.
  7. Serve bean veggie mixture along side roasted squash, fruit salsa and warm taco shells. Place the chopped spicy chili, lime wedges and radicchio on the table too and let people garnish themselves.
  8. Eat.

 

 
 
* I hate the word “squash”. That along with “moist”, “squirt” and “boob”.  Though this has no bearing whatsoever on my feelings about eating them – they’re delicious. Squash, I mean. Heh….
 

Vegetarian-Taco-Recipe

Do you get enough vegetables? What are your favorite ones? Which ones can you just NOT stand? Which vegetables do you love to prepare? Which ones need some help?
  • Debbi Does Dinner Healthy
    November 18, 2013 at 12:41 PM

    These look beautiful! I love all the colors. Great way to get your veggies in!

  • Kristy Gardner
    November 18, 2013 at 12:44 PM

    Thank you so much Debbi! Anything that gets more in, works for me!

  • Chris
    November 18, 2013 at 3:23 PM

    These look AMAZING! What a wonderful meal. Not sure I would share. Love that you roasted the squash. And, the radicchio sounds like a great additional texture with the quick pop of lime. Can’t wait to try. 🙂

  • chelsy
    November 18, 2013 at 3:49 PM

    These look absolutely delicious!

  • Jamie Schroeder
    November 18, 2013 at 4:37 PM

    This is indeed a very interesting vegetable dish! Looks yummy!

  • Kirsten
    November 18, 2013 at 5:57 PM

    Jinx! [If you don’t get this, go to my blog today and see what I posted]
    Though I’d rather be peeling a butternut than a pumpkin and an acorn [insert vegetable category here].
    Your tacos look lovely!

  • Brittany @WeHeartVegan
    November 19, 2013 at 12:02 AM

    Ahh yummmmy!! I love the addition of the butternut squash! Perfect for fall/winter! I’m glad you enjoyed the tacos, can’t wait to try these again… but this time your version (:

  • Eat Laugh Love
    November 19, 2013 at 12:43 AM

    This looks so beautiful and versatile to whatever is in season and what’s in the frig, just like you did.

    Denise

  • Karen - Cinnamon Freud
    November 19, 2013 at 12:47 AM

    Great idea for meatless Monday meal. Looks good!

  • Lisa {Authentic Suburban Gourmet }
    November 19, 2013 at 3:15 AM

    Looks and sounds incredibly tasty! Glad to be part of SRC group C with you!

  • TeaLady
    November 23, 2013 at 4:45 AM

    Fresh and BEAUTIFUL. Those look amazing!!

  • Meghan@CleanEatsFastFeets
    December 2, 2013 at 1:39 PM

    I love all the vegetables, well except eggplant and I’ll even tolerate him.
    This my friend is why you need to join a CSA again. It’ll ensure you meet your weekly veggie quota. These tacos are beautiful, and they sound delicious. I’ll be making them the second I tap into my secret Squash Stash (i.e. tucked away in a box in the basement).

  • Healthy Gifts in a Basket
    December 2, 2013 at 11:13 PM

    These tacos have wonderful variety of healthy vegetables. Thanks for sharing.