Living La Vida Holoka


Black Bean Taco Salad

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This colorful Black Bean Taco Salad is a flavorful fiesta for your mouth made with lettuce, black beans, veggies, cheddar cheese, tortilla strips, and a healthy taco seasoned dressing!

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Happy Cinco de Mayo!  Working from home on a daily basis, the days usually escape me anyway.  But with everything that’s going on now, I seriously have no idea what day it is or what time it is anymore.  So when I finally decided to break out my paper content planner again, I realized “Oh shoot!  Cinco de Mayo is coming up!” 

And here we are and I haven’t scheduled a damn thing related to this day.  Unless you count the Easy Buffalo Jackfruit Taquitos, which I didn’t plan for Cinco de Mayo.  I just really wanted taquitos.

Lucky for us, I remembered this salad when I was going through my brainstorming notebook where I jot down ideas for future posts.  The recipe is simple, you probably already have the ingredients on hand, and it’s healthy.  So if you’re anything like me and totally forgot that today was Cinco de Mayo, you could easily whip this up for dinner tonight and no one would know that you just added it to the menu!    

Black Bean Taco Salad

 
Since Cinco de Mayo has landed on Taco Tuesday this year, we’ve gotta do it up properly and make something taco inspired.  I mean, go ahead and live it up big with a proper taco!  But since I had all of these fresh ingredients on hand (hallelujah for fresh produce!), I’m paying homage to the taco – that spicy little handheld gem of a meal – in salad form.

Get your base of fresh and crunchy leafy greens.  Then, add some black beans for protein (you could toss in some chicken or steak, if you so desire).  After that, add some sliced peppers, green onion, olives, tomatoes, corn, and shredded cheddar cheese.  Toss it all together with a creamy salad dressing made with taco seasoning, plain Greek yogurt (or you could use sour cream), and salsa.  Top it off with some tortilla strips for a light and flavorful, plant based salad!


I made my own crispy tortilla strips in the air fryer.  It’s super easy to do!  Use a pizza cutter or kitchen scissors to cut corn tortillas into strips.  Then, spritz them with a little cooking spray.  Pop them in the air fryer for about 4-5 minutes, or until they’re crispy, and you’ve got some tasty tortilla strips to top salads and soups with! 

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Black Bean Taco Salad

Black Bean Taco Salad

Ingredients

    For the salad:
  • 4 cups lettuce
  • 1 cup black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
  • 1/2 cup sliced mini bell peppers
  • 1/2 cup sweet corn kernels
  • 1/2 cup black olives
  • 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
  • 1/4 cup tortilla strips
  • 2 green onions, sliced
    • For the dressing:
  • 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
  • 1 tbsp. taco seasoning
  • 2 tbsp. salsa

Instructions

    For the salad:
  1. Place the lettuce in a salad bowl.
  2. Top with black beans, tomatoes, peppers, corn, olives, cheddar cheese, tortilla strips, and green onions.
    3. For the dressing:
  3. Add the Greek yogurt, taco seasoning, and salsa to a mason jar. Stir it up or add the lid and give it a good shake.
  4. Spoon over the taco salad.
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If you love a creamy salad dressing, you’ll love this creamy, taco seasoned dressing! It’s full of flavor and clings to every lettuce leaf!  Throw everything in a mason jar and give it a good shake.  Then, when you’re finished dressing your salad, you can toss the lid back on and store it in the fridge!


Now, all you need is an icy margarita and you’ve got a Cinco de Mayo party for your mouth! 

Did you make this Black Bean Taco Salad recipe? Share your pics on Instagram using the hashtag #livinglavidaeats. Don’t forget to tag me @lavidaholoka!

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Jackfruit & Black Bean Tostadas

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This post has been sponsored by Social Native and BUSH’S Black Bean Fiesta™.  This post may contain affiliate links. Making a purchase through one of these links helps support this blog.

Go meatless on Taco Tuesday or Cinco de Mayo with these smoky, chipotle Jackfruit & Black Bean Tostadas topped with crunchy lettuce, Cojita cheese, and green onions!


I have a newfound obsession with jackfruit!  I was a bit iffy about trying jackfruit in savory dishes at first.  It’s fruit!  How could it possibly be a good meat substitute?

Well, it’s basically magic. 

Eaten raw, jackfruit has a sweet, mango-ish flavor to it (it’s been compared to the flavor to Juicy Fruit gum).  The young, unripened fruit is used as a meat alternative in savory dishes.  I’m not going to tell you that it tastes like chicken when it’s cooked – because it doesn’t – but it shreds beautifully and makes an amazing taco filling! 


I’ve found jackfruit frozen at WholeFoods, packaged in the refrigerator aisle, but never in its original form.  So imagine my delight when my husband and I walked to a nearby grocery store and I found precut slices of jackfruit for sale.  Ever since finding these extremely exotic fruits locally, I’ve been buying one on every trip! 

The presliced jackfruit is ripe already.  However, the newbie that I am has used the sweet stuff in savory tacos before and – I’m not going to lie – it wasn’t terrible.  However, the unripened fruit works way better!  Kind of like tofu, it takes on the flavor of whatever sauce you’re cooking it in.

A flavorful tostada made with simple ingredients!

 
I’ve taken my love for jackfruit tacos to a new level and recently made tostadas. I used BUSH’S Black Bean Fiesta™ (note: these beans aren’t vegetarian) as my bottom layer. The black beans made in a chipotle sauce with peppers and corn. Very tasty and the smokiness of the chipotle sauce works really well with the jackfruit!

I also topped my tostadas with a crunchy lettuce mix, cojita cheese, and sliced green onions.  That’s it!  Simple ingredients to make a really flavorful tostada! Make them for Taco Tuesday or Cinco de Mayo!

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Jackfruit & Black Bean Tostadas

Jackfruit & Black Bean Tostadas

Ingredients

  • Corn tostada shells
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • 10 oz. can young jackfruit, drained
  • 1/4 tsp. cumin
  • 1/4 tsp. paprika
  • Generous 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
  • Dash of cayenne pepper
  • 1 small lime, juiced
  • 1/4 cup mild taco sauce
  • 1 tbsp. water + more, as needed
  • 15 oz. can BUSH’S Black Bean Fiesta™
  • Optional toppings: chopped lettuce, Cojita cheese, green onions

Instructions

  1. Heat 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat.
  2. Add the jackfruit and break it apart as it cooks.
  3. Stir in the cumin, paprika, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, and lime juice.
  4. Then, add the taco sauce.
  5. Add a tablespoon of water, as needed, to keep the jackfruit from drying out. The jackfruit will be done when it starts to caramelize on the edges.
  6. While the jackfruit is cooking, warm up the BUSH’S Black Bean Fiesta™ in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally.
  7. Warm up tostada shells in the oven for a few minutes.
  8. Then, start layering the tostadas with beans, jackfruit, lettuce, cheese, and green onions. Serve with hot sauce, if desired.
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If cayenne pepper is too much heat for you, you can omit it from this recipe.  The BUSH’S Black Bean Fiesta™ has a nice little kick to it already. If you want to keep these tostadas vegetarian, look for a vegetarian labeled can of black beans instead.

Find young, green jackfruit in cans or packaged in the refrigerator section of grocery stores.  You’ve got to try jackfruit at least once.  It’s wild how good it is in Mexican-inspired dishes!  These black bean layered tostadas are probably going to become my new favorite way to cook up this strange, but delicious fruit! 

Have you tried jackfruit before?

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Jalapeno Popper Monkey Bread

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Can’t choose between cream cheese or cheddar cheese jalapeno poppers? Have both! This Jalapeno Popper Monkey Bread combines the best of both in a fun, pull-apart style bread!


The good thing about Cinco de Mayo falling on a Saturday this year is that if you party too hard, you can sleep it off on Sunday.  The bad thing about Cinco de Mayo falling on a Saturday this year is that you have an even bigger excuse to drink and eat your face off!  I’m not too worried about drinking my face off (one margarita will do).  But the spicy noshes I’m bound to make might be a problem. 

My husband and I have appetizer nights every now and then.  I’ll go to the store and load up on frozen appetizers.  Then we’ll bake them up and leave them out on the table to grab and eat all night long.  One of our favorite appetizers to include is jalapeño poppers.  My husband’s pretty particular about them.  He doesn’t like the cream cheese filled poppers.  He only likes the cheddar filled poppers.  

A recent trip to Trader Joe’s left me with quite an abundance of jalapeños.  I needed one – just one – for a recipe and ended up with a whole bag of them because they were so cheap.  Thankfully, they last quite a while in the fridge, so I was able to add them to a bunch of recipes.  I had a few left to use up last weekend, so I got our Cinco de Mayo party started a little sooner!  


Even though my husband’s pretty particular about jalapeño poppers (oh my gosh – we’re such food snobs!), I thought I could manage to persuade him by making a jalapeño popper stuffed bread.  I was originally going to make it in the skillet like I did with my Rosemary Parmesan Skillet Garlic Bread.  Then, I realized that it would be damn delicious as a pull-apart style monkey bread!

I started with store bought pizza dough.  We always have it in our freezer for pizza night (every Friday night, baby!).  I cut it into sections and let it do its thing while I mixed up a pretty awesome jalapeño popper inspired filling. 

The best of both jalapeño popper worlds come together in a filling made with cream cheese, cheddar cheese, jalapeños, garlic powder, and a splash of Cholula for a boost of flavor and an extra kick.  Stuff the filling into little dough balls, throw it all in a bundt pan, and cover it in more cheddar and jalapeño slices.  What’s not to love about that?

Jalapeño Popper Monkey Bread
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Ingredients
  1. 1 store bought pizza dough, left to rise at least one hour on the counter
  2. 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
  3. 1 cup cheddar cheese, plus 1/3 cup
  4. 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
  5. 2 jalapeños, seeded and diced, plus 1 jalapeño, sliced
  6. Splash of Cholula, or your favorite hot sauce
  7. Salt and pepper, to taste
  8. 4 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
  9. 1 tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped
  10. Optional: Ranch dressing
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 450º. Generously grease a bundt pan making sure to cover all sides.
  2. On a lightly floured surface, cut the pizza dough into approximately 16 pieces. Set aside.
  3. In a mixing bowl, add the cream cheese, 1 cup cheddar, 2 diced jalapeños, hot sauce, and a little salt and pepper. Mix on medium speed until combined well.
  4. With your hands, flatten each piece of dough into a round disc. Then, spoon a little of the cream cheese mixture into the center of the disc and fold the dough over to make a nice, rough dough ball.
  5. Once all the dough is filled, begin layering the dough balls in a bundt pan.
  6. Mix the melted butter and the fresh parsley together. When the bottom layer of the bundt pan is filled, spoon a little of the butter on top.
  7. Then, sprinkle cheddar cheese on top and add jalapeño slices. Continue with layers until all of the dough balls have been placed in the bundt pan.
  8. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until the monkey bread is golden brown.
  9. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
  10. To remove the monkey bread from the bundt pan, use a butter knife to loosen the edges. Place a plate on top of the pan and carefully flip it over. If necessary, tap the bottom of the bundt pan until the bread falls onto the plate.
  11. Serve with a side of Ranch for dipping, if desired.
Living La Vida Holoka https://www.livinglavidaholoka.com/



Despite using three jalapeños in this recipe, plus a dash of hot sauce, this really wasn’t too spicy.  Then again, you have two different types of cheeses going on that help tone down the heat.  It’s also really freaking good dipped into Ranch!  Unless you’re opposed to Ranch dressing, I highly recommend it as your choice of dipping sauce!

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If you like this jalapeño recipe, you might enjoy these spicy, little recipes as well:

Avocado Chimichurri Steak Skewers

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Wow your taste buds with these Avocado Chimichurri Steak Skewers. These juicy steak skewers are topped with creamy avocado chimichurri sauce and caramelized onions that makes it the perfect dish to kick off the official start of grilling season!

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A simple Cinco de Mayo celebration for two requires something a little more extraordinary than tacos.  Don’t get me wrong.  I have nothing against tacos.  In fact, we probably eat them every other week, if not more.  But a weekend celebration deserves a meal you wouldn’t necessary find on your menu week after week.  It’s officially May and that means we’re one step closer to summer.  So you’re probably back to uncovering the grill, cleaning off the grates, and firing it up!  What’s better to make on the grill than skewers?  And not just any skewers – steak skewers!

I used one piece of skirt steak to make these skewers.  A pound of steak will feed two.  Skirt steak is a little fattier than flank steak, but if cooked correctly, it’s the perfect cut of beef for skewers.  If overcooked, it could get a little tough.  That’s why it’s recommended that you marinade it first, which is exactly what I did!  Before I fired up the grill, I trimmed some of the excess fat off of my steak.  Then, I whipped up a quick marinade with soy sauce, lime juice, garlic, olive oil, and a pinch of cayenne.  While my steak was marinading, I started on my chimichurri sauce.


Chimichurri sauce isn’t exactly Mexican.  It originated in Argentina, but the flavors and ingredients used to make it are often found in Mexican cuisine.  So I figured that it was good enough for a celebratory Cinco de Mayo dish!  Not convinced?  Well, I threw an avocado in it.  So now it’s a creamy, semi-Mexican chimichurri sauce.  That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!  On a side note, did you know that you could put ripened avocados in the fridge?  You guys!  You need to start doing this!  It actually keeps them fresh!

Honestly, it’s really, really good on steak!  Like really, really good!  The combination of jalapeño, parsley, cilantro, garlic, vinegar, and olive oil works so well with the delicious, charred and smokey flavor of grilled meat. 

The finishing touch on this crazy delicious meal is caramelized onions.  In my opinion, if you’re going to eat an onion, this is the best way to do it!  Caramelizing onions makes them a little sweeter and balances out the flavor of these skewers.  I wouldn’t leave them out and I’m a gal who doesn’t always like her food topped with onions!

Avocado Chimichurri Steak Skewers
Serves 2
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For the steak skewers
  1. 1 lb. skirt steak
  2. 2 tbsp. soy sauce
  3. 1 tbsp. olive oil
  4. 1/2 tsp. honey
  5. 1-2 garlic cloves, minced
  6. Juice of 1 lime
  7. Pinch of cayenne pepper
  8. 1/4 cup red onion, sliced thin
  9. Salt and pepper, to taste
  10. Skewers
For the avocado chimichurri sauce
  1. 1 avocado, pitted
  2. 1/3 cup olive oil
  3. 3 garlic cloves
  4. 1 jalapeño, seeded
  5. 1/4 cup fresh parsley, stems removed
  6. 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, stems removed
  7. 2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
  8. 1/2 tsp. sea salt
For the steak skewers
  1. Trim excess fat from the skirt steak. Pound it with a meat tenderizer on both sides. Then, cut against the grain into strips.
  2. In a large bowl, mix the soy sauce, olive oil, honey, minced garlic, lime juice, and pinch of cayenne together.
  3. Marinade steak at least one hour. Then, thread onto the skewers.
  4. Heat a grill to medium-high heat.
  5. Add the skewers to the grill and cook on each side about two minutes.
  6. Remove from the grill and allow to rest.
  7. To make the onions, add a little olive oil to a pan and season with salt and pepper. Cook on medium heat until the onions have softened and begin to crisp at the ends. Remove from heat.
For the avocado chimichurri sauce
  1. In a blender or food processor, add all of the ingredients and blend until smooth.
  2. Drizzle sauce over the steak skewers.
  3. Add the caramelized onions on top and serve with extra chimichurri sauce.
Living La Vida Holoka https://www.livinglavidaholoka.com/


You cannot tell me that you wouldn’t want to eat a few of these bad boys with an ice cold margarita (or Corona and lime) this weekend.  In fact, there’s a very big chance that I might be partaking in another chimichurri steak skewer fiesta myself!

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If you like this Cinco de Mayo recipe, you might enjoy these recipes as well:


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