You can use beans in stir-fries, home-made spread, soups and stews and many other vegan dishes. But every now and then I like them as a taco filling

Just lately I’ve been experimenting with fruity additions like persimmon in my stir-frys. It was amazing! So I tried it in my favourite bean taco filling. It goes very well with the chilli! If you don’t have persimmons you could also use mango or peaches.

I have used dried beans, which I first soaked in water over night and then cooked. To have a little stash of cooked beans at hand you can always cook up a big batch and freeze it in portions. Just defrost them or rinse in a sieve with warm water when you need them

Makes filling for approx. 12 tacos:

3/4 cup dried beans (160g), soak them overnight and cook them until soft
(makes 2 cups (350g) of cooked beans)

1 small onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil or 2 tablespoon water for oil-free option

1 capsicum, finely chopped
1 persimmon, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 cup passata
chilli to taste
salt to taste

1 tablespoon freshly ground flax seed

Lettuce, tomato and other ingredients for additional taco filling.

Preparation:

1. Heat olive oil or water in frying pan. Add chopped onion and cook until golden brown.

2. Add chopped capsicum and persimmon and cook until tender.

3. Add passata, chilli, salt and beans and simmer for a few minutes.

4. Just before serving, mash the beans roughly with a potato masher. Then stir in the freshly ground flax seeds to bind the mixture.

Enjoy!

Please let me know what you think about this recipe, I’d love to hear from you! And if you remake this recipe, please share the picture with me on Pinterest, Instagram or Facebook.

No photo could show you how flavourful this dish is!

The only thing I can do, is to beg you to try this! With only 9 ingredients it is pretty easy to make. Once you have the flavours spreading in your mouth, you’ll be very happy you went to make it!

I like my food more often hot than not, but of course you can skip the chili or sub for a less hot one.

Because I’m using sun-dried tomatoes, which are treated with salt, I don’t think you need to add any salt. With garlic and chili you have enough kick that you won’t even miss it

For 4 portions you’ll need:

1 cup red split lentils (soaked in filtered water for at least 6 hours then drained)
1 small onion
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 teaspoon whole coriander
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 Thai birds eye chili, finely chopped

10 dried tomatoes, soaked in 1 cup of water
1 can coconut milk
1-2 cloves of garlic, minced

Preparation:

1. Peel and chop the onion into small cubes. Heat the coconut oil in a large frying pan (a wok works very well here) and then cook the onions, stirring well, until they start to turn golden. Then add the coriander and cumin seeds and roast them for another 2 minutes or so.

2. Add the chopped chili, soaked lentils and coconut milk to the frying pan. Stir well and let cook.

3. Blend the dried tomatoes in the water that you soaked them with until they are a fine cream. I use my high-speed blender for this. Add to the frying pan.

4. After about 5 minutes (or more) the lentils should have soaked up a lot of the fluid and start to turn soft. Turn off the heat and when the Dal has stopped boiling, add the minced garlic.

Enjoy!

Please let me know what you think about this recipe, I’d love to hear from you! And if you remake this recipe, please share the picture with me on Pinterest, Instagram or Facebook.

In this dish I don’t add any salt because the passata and kidney beans are salty enough. The chili gives it a good kick as well, and I have got used to having it without additional salt – tastes just as good!

For 4 portions you’ll need:

1 red capsicum
1 green capsicum
1-2 carrots
1/2 onion
2-3 garlic cloves
1 tofu
1 can kidney beans, drained
2/3 bottle passata (about 450ml)
1/4 cup water
2-3 teaspoon chili flakes
3 teaspoon ground paprika
some cooking oi (I use coconut oil)

Preparation:

1. Peel and chop the onion into fine cubes, the garlic into fine slices. Halve the capsicums, remove the stalk and seeds and cut into bite sized pieces. Slice the carrot finely.

2. On a plate, crumble the tofu (with your clean hands) to relatively fine pieces and place aside. In a good non-stick pan, heat some oil and then fry the capsicums for a short time. But long enough to have a few browned bits on them – this increases their yummy flavour.

3. Transfer the capsicums to a plate and place aside. Heat a little more oil in the same frying pan if needed then add the onions. Saute the onions for a few minutes.

4. Then add the tofu crumbles and fry until it has shrunk in size and starts to turn a little golden (approx. 10 minutes). Towards the end, add the chili flakes and shortly after, the garlic. Let cook for a few more minutes, stirring constantly.

5. Then sprinkle the ground paprika and stir to combine. Pour in the passata and 1/4 cup water shortly after and stir well. Add the carrot slices and bring to boil. Pour in the kidney beans and fried capsicum and heat up briefly.

Serve with rice or whatever else makes you happy

Enjoy!