(mostly) winter seasonal tacos

So, I kinda haven't updated this in nearly a year...Why? Well, in the last year I had to stop being vegan for a while to prepare my stomach to eat dairy and eggs while traveling to Romania and Switzerland (Europe doesn't do gluten free vegan). Plus, while in another country I think that it's important to indulge in local fare as much as possible. Since I cannot bring myself to eat the flesh of another animal and physically can't tolerate gluten, giving in for animal by-products was pretty much my only choice. On top of that I had to move out of my lovely apartment this year into a much much smaller in-law unit with a kitchen the size of a large bathtub. This small kitchen, along with the fact that I conquered an epic 19 units with an internship this semester didn't leave me with much time or space to have fun in the kitchen like I used to. I pretty much spent the last six months eating quinoa with store bought pasta sauce on top of it. So it goes... Lastly, I have had some major dietary philosophy changes over the past year. I have been focusing on eating foods that are organic, healthy, and, when possible, in season and local. This means no more mass quantities of soy, corn syrup, cupcakes, Mexico tomatoes, hydrogenated oil based frosting and fillings, etcetera. This also means I have been cheating vegan a bit more. If something is offered to me and is gluten free and healthy but has eggs in it, I won't turn it down as quickly as I once did (though I still turn it down a lot). Oh, and no more banana's as egg substitutes. Though I love banana's and they are choc full of vitamins, I find it difficult to justify buying something from the other side of the equator on a frequent basis. Flax seeds are just dandy for me.

Enough of my food snobbery, onto some local, seasonal goodness...
Squash and black bean tacos with greens
Ingredients:
2 small delicata squash (though any winter squash will do)
16 oz. black beans, cooked, drained
1/2 large red onion, finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 a red chili, minced
1 bunch (2 packed cups? dandelion greens), coarsely chopped
1 tbs cumin
2 tsp sea salt
1 tbs oil of choice
6-10 corn tortillas, warmed

For garnish:
chopped cilantro
salsa (I liked the Double Fire Roasted Salsa from Trader Joe's)
Nutritional yeast

The recipe:
Cut the squash in half, scoop the seeds out, and plop into a bot of boiling water. Boil for 15 to 20 minutes, or until you can cut the skin with a fairly blunt object.

While the squash is boiling combine oil, onions, salt, chili and cumin in a pan and fry for 2-3 minutes.
Add black beans and cook for another 5 minutes (stirring constantly so beans don't stick and burn!)
Turn down the heat and toss in the garlic and the greens. Put a lid on the pan and let steam for 2-5 minutes.
Turn heat back up and continuously stir for another 2 minutes.


Spoon out squash (you can eat the skins, but they're best left out for this recipe)and smear on the tortillas (as if it was hummus or an avocado)
Spoon a few scoops of the veggie/bean mix on top
Garnish with cilantro, salsa, and nutritional yeast

Yum!

P.S. Everything except the spices, tortillas, and salsa came from the farmers market and this really cool little company called Santa Cruz Local Foods (santacruzlocalfoods.com) Check 'em out. They're pretty awesome, and they have an adorable new(ish) baby. Double score!