I’m wavering somewhere between being cryptic and downright gagged. Is there a middle ground between those two?
I wonder how much to blog about sometimes. How many of you are here for the recipes and don’t want to hear a snip about my life, and how many of you are here for the gossip, and don’t want to hear a snip about vegan adventures in a meat lovin’ kitchen? I don’t know. I’m too tired to set it all straight in my head tonight.
What I do know is that my real life, no matter how mysterious I attempt to be comes through in my writing. I may not say it outright, but you can tell by the language of my posts that it’s been a bad day. Or a week. Or, you know, one of those years.
So, I hope you don’t mind me being rather dull today. I’m downright exhausted and spent and I hardly want to blather on about it all if you’re just here for the recipes. But, if you are here for the gossip. Oh boy. It’s your lucky day, peachie pie, because mama Brooke has done gone off her scooter.
For the last several months, our family has been packing and setting plans in place to move to Orange County, California. We were all thrilled, heading back to the city of my childhood. Moving minutes away from Nana and cousins and the beach. Ohhhh. The beach.
The countdown was on last week. Spring break hit and we spent hours organizing, boxing, teetering tall towers of cardboard boxes in the garage to make the task even quicker and slicker. Nine days to go. Eight. Seven.
Then, last night. Word came that the move had to be indefinitely postponed. That’s a funny word, indefinitely. I don’t know of a more noncommittal word than “indefinitely.” But somehow, it’s so much easier to use than “definitely.”
I broke the news to four sobbing children.Six days away from becoming beach babies and the plans were picked up, tossed, and shattered. Breaking your children’s hearts. It’ll suck the wind out of you.
So, I hope you’ll forgive me for over blogging my business today. But, it’s just one of those days. Things’ll get back on track. We’ll figure out where to go from here.
In the meantime, we’re all eating mass amounts of Mike & Ike’s (they be vegan, yo), drowning our sorrows with homemade tacos piled high with a cozy slaw, and watching “Touch” on Fox. Because somehow, those three things together just seem to make everything not quite as bad as you once thought it to be.
“At any given time the universe is giving you the best result possible.” ― Deepak Chopra
Sweet Snappy Barbecue Bean Tacos Vegan
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 yellow squash cut into long "stalks"
- 1 teaspoon GOYA Adobo seasoning found in the Mexican food section of Whole Foods
- 1 can pinto beans drained
- ⅓ cup ketchup
- 2 tablespoons beer mustard
- 3 tablespoons white vinegar
- 4 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 1 cup purple cabbage finely shredded
- 1 cup cabbage finely shredded
- 2 tablespoons Vegenaise
- 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro finely chopped
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes halved
- 1 avocado diced
- 4 soft white corn tortillas warmed
- 4 white corn taco shells warmed
- Limes for garnish
Instructions
- Optional First Step (Skip this portion of the recipe if you're trying to keep it super simple!)
- Heat the tablespoon of olive oil in a nonstick grill pan over medium-high heat. Toss the cut squash into your hot pan, season generously with GOYA Adobo seasoning and allow to cook until the squash is very soft. Set aside.
- In a small pan, combine the beans, ketchup, mustard, 2 tablespoons of vinegar, and 3 tablespoons of maple syrup. Cook, stirring occasionally, over medium heat until the sauce has thickened. Season with salt and pepper, if desired.
- While your beans are cooking, toss the cabbage, remaining vinegar, remaining maple syrup, Vegenaise, and cilantro together until the cabbage is well coated.
- Mix the tomatoes and avocado together.
- Serve the beans and grilled squash in the taco shells, topped with slaw and avocado-tomato salad. A squeeze of fresh lime juice finishes it off to perfection. Enjoy!
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