Mexican Night

My mom is coming to Chicago this weekend! This will be her first time visiting. John and I are taking her to the Art Institute, Tribune Building, around our neighborhood, Karyn's Cooked (vegan restaurant), a wine bar, and The Chicago Diner (vegan restaurant) for brunch. John and I decided to grab dinner out last night knowing we would be marathon cleaning tonight.  I bought ingredients for Mexican cuisine a few days ago and didn't make it yet due to time restraints when I get home after school.

I made fresh salsa, guacamole, Mexican rice, and soft tacos filled with lime infused black beans and roasted peppers.

Fresh Salsa

4 roma tomatoes roughly cut

Use an immersion blender or food processor to break them down a bit

Add about a tablespoon  hot sauce of your choice

2 cloves garlic

pepper

2 tablespoon cilantro

1/2 the juice of a lime

Blend together

Guacamole

2 avocados

1 clove garlic minced

half a roma tomato diced

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 juice of a lime

Stir together with a spoon/fork

Mexican Rice

I totally cheated and used a boxed rice from Whole Foods

Roasted Peppers

I washed 1 Anaheim pepper

1 poblano pepper

1 yellow pepper

Set the oven to 450 degrees

Roast until the peppers start to brown

Let cool before slicing

Add the peppers to the bean mixture

Bean Mixture

Put one can of bean in a skillet on low

I bought a lime/cilantro sauce at Whole Foods that I used as the sauce. 

Add 3 tablespoons minced cilantro

Cook these on low while the peppers roast

Add the roasted peppers to the mixture

Tortilla

I turned off the oven when I removed the peppers

I then placed the tortillas on the racks

I used the leftover heat to get the tortillas nice and warm

This is a  pretty simple meal. I love making fresh salsa and guacamole. They both taste so fresh compared to store bought. John enjoyed this meal. The lime/cilantro sauce was a bit spicy, but not bad. You could add vegan sour cream to the tacos for added creaminess. 

Happy Cooking!