Black Bean Tostadas with Tangy Cabbage Salad

You know how bloggers tend to post holiday dishes before the actual holiday? Do you think they make the same dish for the real holiday? Or make something new?

Me: a little from column A and a little from column B. Cooking for me, column B the majority of the time. For guests, perhaps some from column A.

For Cinco de Mayo, I shared my Mexican Chili Salad Wraps the week before.  Rob celebrated Cinco de Mayo with a lovely corn and avocado salsa and oodles of other Mexican treats. No salad wraps. Except that was on May 4. On May 5, Rob and I actually went out for Thai food to celebrate a friend’s birthday (they actually had a few vegan options -youpee!).

But then, after seeing others share their Mexican eats, I had a craving for more Mexican. Post-Cinco.

Flipping through Bittman’s latest cookbook, VB6: Vegan Before 6:00 (good review of the cookbook here), I knew exactly what I was drawn to: black bean tacos with a tangy cabbage slaw. I had my mango “taco” wraps ready to go. I love all things “tangy” especially if it means lots of citrus juice (lime!). And well, beans, oh yes. I have used black beans in many Mexican dishes, but I was intrigued by Bittman’s suggestion to mash them, spice them (lots of garlic!), and then roast them.

It worked really well. While the beans crisped up in the oven, I made the beautiful cabbage slaw. It came together seamlessly. Call them tostadas with crispy flatbreads or roll them into tacos.  My mango wraps were crispy but if you let the beans sit on top of the wraps for a while, the wraps absorb some of the moistness and became pliable again. Because they were very thin, they were very delicate and made a big delicious mess. A beautiful delicious mess. I can’t remember the last time I bought red cabbage, but gosh, isn’t it gorgeous?

So, for all you seasoned bloggers and foodies out there, do you remake your pre-holiday dishes? Or try something new again? 🙂

This is my submission to Deb for this week’s Souper Sundays and this week’s Weekend Wellness..

Black Bean Tostadas with Tangy Cabbage Salad
Adapted from VB6: Vegan Before 6:00 (original recipe here)

2 cups cooked black beans, rinsed and drained if canned
1 tbsp minced/pressed garlic (6 cloves)
1 tbsp chili powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4-1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
1 tbsp melted coconut oil, or oil of choice

4 cups thinly sliced/shredded cabbage (275g)
1 cup red bell pepper, thinly sliced
2 tbsp chopped green onions
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 cup fresh lime juice (2 limes)
zest from 2 limes (reserve some for garnish)
1/4 tsp Aleppo chili flakes, or to taste
salt, to taste

4 tortillas, or green wraps (I used my mango wrappers)

1. Preheat oven to 400F.

2. Meanwhile in a large bowl, combine the beans, garlic, chili powder, cumin, and salt. Use a potato masher or fork to gently mash the beans together and mix together the spices. Keep it a bit chunky. Spread in a thick layer on a silpat-lined cookie sheet. Drizzle with oil. Bake for 15 minutes at 400F until crispy. Set aside to cool slightly.

3. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the cabbage, red pepper, green onion, cilantro, lime zest and juice, and chili flakes. Add salt to taste. Set aside until the beans are ready.

4. If you are using corn tortillas, wrap them in foil and heat in oven during the last 5 minutes of the bean baking.

5. To assemble, on top of each tortilla/wrap, place black bean mixture and top with cabbage slaw.

Serves 4.