Butternut Squash Tacos with Black Beans
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Butternut squash tacos are made with spiced roasted squash and paired with simmered black beans and crumbled cheese for a fabulous meatless dinner.
I rally for planning Halloween costumes early. Not only because I don’t want to be choosing from the scraps at the store, but also because I love dressing up for Halloween. As soon as we were a family of four, I insisted on a family costume, and for two years my family has humored me as we dressed first as Star Wars characters and then the foursome from The Wizard of Oz.
This year, my older son insisted on being a ninja, even though we had previously agreed on a “classic monster” theme with a vampire, werewolf, Frankenstein’s monster, and bride of Frankenstein. (I even could reuse my Leia dress!) Kids and their ninja obsessions, I swear. My other child doesn’t even want to wear a costume at all, so Halloween is going to be a stressful night.
This is why I keep easy dinner plans at the ready.
The other day when I grabbed butternut squash at the farmers market, I knew immediately I would be making these butternut squash tacos. You see, I’ve actually been making these tacos for years, and for some reason never shared the recipe with you.
Maybe it’s because they’re so simple, or maybe it’s just because we usually are so eager to dig in that I never get a photograph off. Either way, that long silence has ended, and now you’ve got the recipe for a great meatless taco.
Butternut squash is cubed and roasted with spices, while black beans simmer with onion and tomato. Everything is done at the same time, and you can pile it on your warmed tortillas, top with crumbled cheese and cilantro and go to town. Meat, who needs it?
I’m not kidding when I say this is my favorite taco. Once, years ago when I had made a double batch of tacos, I ate these tacos every day for lunch for an entire week. Seven days. No joke. I hate eating the same thing over and over, so if I eat a specific taco for that many days in a row, there must be something to them, right?
If you use dried beans for these butternut squash tacos, be sure to soak them overnight and get them cooking ahead of time. I tend to use canned simply out of ease, but I love Rancho Gordo heirloom beans when cooking from dried.
Also, the easiest way I’ve found to prepare butternut squash is this:
- Using a vegetable peeler, peel the squash.
- Trim top and bottom, then slice the neck from the bulbous part of the squash. Dice neck.
- Scoop out the seeds and membrane using a melon baller, then slice remaining squash.
I used a small squash for this recipe, but go ahead and roast up extra — you’ll be tossing it into everything! Or just making more tacos.
Butternut Squash Tacos with Black Beans
Ingredients
- 1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cubed
- 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more to taste
- 1/2 cup diced onion
- 1 medium tomato, diced
- 1 15- ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
- Tortillas
- Goat cheese crumbles or queso blanco
- Cilantro, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Put butternut squash on a rimmed baking sheet and drizzle with 1/2 tablespoon olive oil. Stir squash to coat. Mix together cumin, coriander, cayenne, and 1/4 teaspoon salt, and sprinkle over squash, and stir again. Roast in the oven for 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, heat the remaining 1/2 tablespoon olive oil in a saucepan over medium.
- Add the onion and saute for 2-3 minutes. Stir in the tomato, and continue to cook for an additional 2-3 minutes, until onions are translucent and tomato starts breaking down.
- Stir in the black beans and a pinch of salt and simmer until squash is done.
- Warm tortillas and top with bean mixture, prepared squash, crumbled cheese, and cilantro.