Kitchen 1, Gym 0

Winter in Montreal can be quite cruel, but lately it's been mild enough to be bearable, and it seems as though spring is just around the corner. But it's always "just around the corner", and, always around this time, I really start to get tired of the cold and my energy level inevitably decreases. This is why, instead of going to the gym like a good person, I opted to cook a delicious meal and ignore the ominous stack of papers that is accumulating on my desk. Maybe I can pull a Meteor Man and just touch them for the info....

At any rate, a trip to the grocery store was well needed, and I emerged half and hour later with a bag full of groceries, with the intent of making "Crisp black bean tacos with feta and slaw". The recipe is from my favorite cooking blog ever, http://www.smittenkitchen.com, modified a bit so that a) I could make it with a few ingredients that I already had at home and b) so that it had a bit more of a kick to it (don't blame me, I love spicy food!) 

Overall the recipe was pretty much as simple as it sounds: black beans mashed with some spices, spooned onto a tortilla and pan-fried until crispy, then topped with feta and homemade coleslaw. I added some chilli powder (just a touch, it really depends on what your spice tolerance is), and found that it really brought out earthiness of the cumin powder. Also, I am not normally a fan of coleslaw, but found that when I made it myself, the result was infinitely tastier than anything you can buy at a store. I chose to add a bit less oil than the recipe calls for, and to add a bit more mayo (a condiment that I recently discover and have growing love for). I also added more green onion on top of the finished slaw as well as some pepper as a final garnish. Lots of hot sauce, and a bit of sour cream too. I would imagine that some corn mixed into the black beans would be pretty delicious too....for next time!

Crispy black bean tacos

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen (http://smittenkitchen.com)

1 15 oz can black beans, drained

1 tsp ground cumin

4 tsp olive oil

4 whole wheat tortilla

1/3 cup feta cheese

Salt and pepper, to taste

Chilli powder, to taste

Hot sauce

Place drained beans, cumin powder and chilli powder in a small bowl and partially mash.

In a large, non-stick skillet heat 2 tsp of olive oil and lightly pan-fry 2 tortillas; place ¼ of the bean mixture onto half of each the tortilla and wait until it is a golden brown.

Fold the tortilla over, flip and pan-fry the other side until crisp and warmed throughout.

Repeat with remaining beans and tortillas.

Fill with feta cheese and coleslaw; serve with hot sauce and sour cream

Green onion and red cabbage coleslaw

Adapted from Bobby Flay (via Smitten Kitchen)

1 cup coarsely chopped green onions

¼ cup red wine vinegar

1 jalapeno pepper, deseeded and coarsely chopped

2-3 tbsp mayonnaise

1/3 cup olive oil

1 head purple cabbage, finely shredded

1 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced

½ cup chopped cilantro

Juice from 1 lime

Green onion, to garnish

Blend green onions, red wine vinegar, jalapeno pepper, mayonnaise and olive oil until emulsified.

Add red cabbage and red onions to a large bowl; fold green onion dressing in until well mixed

Add lime juice and salt and pepper, to taste

Garnish with green onion

Serve at room temperature or, better yet, cold!