Pinto Bean & Veggie Tacos with Queso Blanco

Tuesday, October 29

Pinto Bean & Veggie Tacos with Queso Blanco

Rating: 4.5

Dinner was a bit of a mash-up of a couple of recipes. Did I mention we just got a copy of Isa Does It? Did I mention how much I love it? Well, we did and I do. One of the recipes that really caught my eye was the Queso Blanco. I admit, I was one of those vegetarians who (for more years than I’d like to own up to) insisted I could not give up cheese. Then I learned how horrible the dairy industry is, and without it, there would be no veal industry and came to my senses. I bid a sad farewell to cheese, and along with it, the gooey dip at Mexican restaurants. I’ve been on a cashew kick lately (thanks to Luminous Vegans recipe), so I may or may not have actually squealed when I found the queso blanco recipe in my new favorite book. I planned a couple of meals we could use it for, since I knew it would make a lot, so this was the first use. I’m hoping it will reheat well. Since it was a Tuesday, I went with a bit of alliteration and made it Taco Tuesday, or as we call it around here, TACO TIME! We have a ton of bell peppers and spinach on hand thanks to my mom, so I decided to make bean & veggie tacos. We made this recipe for  Curry Tofu Tacos with Pinto Beans and Kale Slaw a few weeks ago, and oh holy yum it’s good. Since then, I’ve made just the pinto bean portion of it a few times and it makes great tacos on its own.As for the extra veggies, I added an orange bell pepper to it at the same time as the onions, and added spinach at the very end. We used soft corn tortillas and then piled them with the queso, beans and fresh pico de gallo and guac that Seth made. We also had a bowl of blue corn chips on the side and used the pico, guac and queso for dipping. And yes, the queso is really close to that stuff you get in Mexican restaurants. Score.