Veggie Taco Filling

I adore tacos. All kinds of tacos. 

Crunchy shell, four tortilla, or corn tortilla. All yummy. Bean filling, rice filling, meat filling, or any combination. Then of course there's fish and shrimp, fried or barbecued. And potato tacos! Cheese baked to melt onto the shell, or sprinkled cold over the top. Tex-mex style. Baja style. 

OK. You probably get the point.

And one thing I have been wanting to work out a recipe for is a veggie taco filling. Diced up veggies and beans, sauteed and taco seasoned. I made a couple of half hearted attempts awhile back, but never really came up with anything that I was especially happy with.  Mostly because I was being lazy about spices.

But I think those tres leches cupcakes inspired me. Because I left work that day intending to make one thing for dinner (I can't remember what) and by the time I got home I was dead set on figuring out the veggie taco filling once and for all.

Veggie Taco Filling

(about 4 servings)

2 Tbsp Oil

½ cup Onion, diced

4 cloves Garlic, minced

1 can Corn (or about 1 cup of kernels)

1 can Black Beans (or about 1 cup), mostly drained but not rinsed

1 cup Tomatoes, diced

2 medium Zucchini, diced small enough to mix with corn and beans

1 tsp Cayenne Pepper

1 tsp Chili Powder

¼ tsp paprika

¼ tsp Cumin

¼ tsp garlic powder

¼ tsp onion powder

a pinch of Salt

Heat oil in saute pan or large frying pan over medium heat

Add onion and cook until soft

Add garlic and cook about one more minute, until fragrant

Add zucchini and cook until it starts to soften and is almost cooked through

Add black beans, corn, tomatoes, and spices. Turn up heat if needed. Continue heating until zucchini is cooked and mixture is heated throughout.

Serve with tortillas and all your favorite taco toppings!

I am pretty pleased with this recipe. It has a little bit of kick, but not too much. And I like the contrast with the sweet corn.  The sweet corn might add too much sweetness for some people though, or even for me if I'm in a certain mood, so I might omit it sometimes.  I think some diced up red bell pepper would also be a food addition to the mix, so I might try that next time.  This is probably just as much a starting point as a firm recipe.