My “go-to” quick dish for black beans often involves tortillas and cheese. I have been reading more and more information suggesting that cheese really is not that good for you, so I have been thinking about how to make things I like without using cheese. I have read that nutritional yeast–an ingredient I do not have much experience with–can sort of substitute for cheese. Not exactly. It doesn’t give you that gooey wonderfulness that cheese does. But then, it doesn’t clog your arteries, either! But it is supposed to offer the elusive umami that I read about, which I do not entirely understand. In any case, I set out to use some black beans that I had cooked in my slow cooker (see another post earlier this month) with tortillas in a simple, tasty dish. I wanted it to satisfy my hunger this evening without contaminating my body with any animal products. I like what I came up with. You could make this dish for lunch, a snack, or a light supper, as I did.
½ cup cherry tomatoes, cut into quarters
1 cup cooked black beans (preferably cooked using my slow cooker method with a dried chipotle chile in the pot—save the chile after it cooks)
handful of cilantro, about ¼ cup, chopped
juice of ½ lime
1 TBS nutritional yeast
¼ tsp sea salt
1 scallion, chopped (use both white and green parts)
6 corn tortillas
½ avocado, diced
Mix cherry tomatoes, black beans, cilantro, lime juice, nutritional yeast, sea salt, scallion in a bowl. Add a little bit of chopped chipotle chile leftover from cooking in the slow cooker with the black beans. (You might try adding a little chopped jalapeno instead if you like things spicy).
Heat a cast iron skillet over medium flame. Cook each tortilla for 20-30 seconds on each side, then transfer it to a plate. Fill tortilla with a spoonful or two of mixture, then fold over so it is a semi-circle. Heat filled tortillas for 1 minute in a microwave, then top with diced avocado. Makes 6. (I ate 4 for supper–I was hungry, so plan on 2-4 per person for a meal, maybe even 6 for someone really hungry).