Easy Oaxacan Black Bean Mole Tacos

Summer dinners don't get easier or more healthy than this plant based taco recipe. We're using a jarred mole sauce with all natural ingredients to shortcut us into flavor town. The great thing about this recipe is that the beans and the pickled onion can be made ahead and used in a variety of recipes all week!

Black Bean Prep Ahead

Make the black beans several days ahead, making more than you need. Refrigerate the beans in their cooking liquid and use them all week in salads, or dips, or heat them up with some cumin and garlic for an easy side. The leftover bean mole makes an amazing breakfast the next day spread on a tortilla and topped with a sunny side up egg. If you don't use all of the beans you cooked, freeze them on the 5th day for later use.

Pickled Onion

This is a very basic recipe. Feel free to bling it up with dried peppers, garlic cloves, cumin seed, black pepper corns, etc. They keep in the fridge for weeks and are great to add to pretty much everything. 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Dry Oaxacan Black Beans
• 1 4 inch strip of Kombu
• 1 Cinnamon Tree Leaf
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• Smoked Oaxacan Mole Sauce
• Taco Size Flour Tortillas 
• Cilantro
• Raddish
• Avocado
• Quick Pickled Red Onion 

For Quick Pickled Red Onion

• 1 red onion
• 1 tablespoon brown fennel (optional)
• 1 cup white wine vinegar
• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar

Directions:

Make The Pickled Onion up to 2 weeks ahead: Slice the onion thinly and squeeze all of the slices into a glass ball jar. Put all remaining ingredients in a sauce pan and bring to a boil until the sugar and salt are melted. Pour over the onions and refrigerate for 4 hours up to several weeks.

Make the Oaxacan Black Beans: Rinse the beans and place in a slow cooker or pressure cooker with water to cover by 2 inches adding the salt, cinnamon tree leaf and kombu. Pressure cook for 25 minutes and allow the steam to escape naturally, or cook all day on low in the slow cooker. These can be made up to 3 days ahead and refrigerated in their cooking liquid. 

Strain the beans from the cooking liquid and combine with the mole sauce in a small sauce pan. Heat gently over medium heat until warm.

Toast the tortillas over a gas burner or grill or warm them in a dry pan for a couple of minutes per side.

Assemble the tacos with beans, avocado, cilantro, radish and pickled onion and enjoy!