Crispy Black Bean Tacos

It’s no secret that I didn’t always have a healthy relationship with food.

It’s one of the reasons why I’m so passionate about helping you create one — I’ve been on the other side. I know how it feels to constantly stress about food. And it’s not fun.

One thing that strikes me most when I look back on that period for me was how bland the food I ate was.

I was convinced that food had to be incredibly simple and boring. No flavor, oils, dressings, salt, etc.

I would even eat salads with no dressing.

If this is you: please know, no judgment at all. Again, I’ve been there. I get how diet culture can get into your head and make you feel like you shouldn’t be eating so many different things.

So if you can relate, I really also want you to know this: food is supposed to have flavor.

From a nutrition standpoint, adding oils and dressings can often help enhance the nutrients in the food.

For example, adding an oil-based salad dressing to a salad helps your body better absorb the fat-soluble vitamins in that salad (vitamins A, D, E, and K).

Cooking many vegetables – like tomatoes – makes their nutrients more bioavailable and more easily absorbed by the body.

Scientifically, there are so many beneficial reasons to cook, flavor, and dress your food.

But even more than that, flavor makes food enjoyable. It adds that satisfaction factor.

Finding the satisfaction in food is one of principles of Intuitive Eating. 

Food has many purposes – it fills us up and nourishes us – but it’s also supposed to satisfy us.

Eating is meant to be an enjoyable experience! You should like the food you eat.

And that goes back to adding flavor to food.

When I was eating salads with no dressing, I can almost guarantee you, I wasn’t enjoying them.

Adding a delicious dressing to salads makes them so much more enjoyable for me. Which in turn means that after my meal, I often feel comfortably content, full, and not thinking about what I’m going to eat next (a common result of meals not being satisfied).

And all of this brings me to these tacos: they are SO full of flavor.

While there’s nothing wrong with eating plain black beans, adding spices and flavor to them makes them more much more delicious.

Adding cheese and a fresh avocado yogurt sauce amps up the flavor even more.

These tacos are perfectly crispy on the outside, with a warm soft texture on the inside. They’re full of protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals.

And – because they’re so flavorful – they’re also so dang satisfying.

Notes

• Black beans: As a dietitian, I love beans because of how nutritious, versatile, and affordable they are. I always buy the cheapest option I see – just rinse and drain them before using.
• Tortillas: Make sure to use a small (6-inch) taco size tortilla. It’ll fold and hold up the best!
• Cheese: I used Mexican blend shredded cheese. You can find this in most grocery stores. If you can’t find it, try using shredded mozzarella instead.
• Avocado yogurt sauce: Feel free to swap the parsley for cilantro. I’m not a cilantro fan, but if you like it, it would definitely work well in the sauce. Because avocado is prone to browning, the sauce will only last for a day or 2 (although the lime juice helps prolong the browning a bit). I recommend making this sauce right before serving or eating. If you have extra, add it to roasted veggies – it’s so good!
• Storage: Store tacos in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. Before eating, you can broil them in the oven for a few minutes to crisp them up again.