Black Bean, Corn, & Poblano Tacos with Honey Chipotle Cream

Why do some of the best meals come from the situations where you’re low on everything, but can’t be bothered to leave the house for a grocery run? These tacos were definitely one of those cases – canned black beans, frozen corn, and a leftover pepper turned into one of the tastiest meals we’d had in a while. No Meat March approved, to boot!

Ingredients (for 6 tacos):

6 small flour tortillas

1 can black beans

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp chipotle powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp oregano

1 bay leaf

1 tbsp butter

1/2 bag frozen corn (I like Trader Joe’s fire-roasted corn, or the Mexican-Style Roasted Corn with Cotija would be particularly delicious)

1 large or 2 small poblano peppers, cut into slices

Olive oil

Salt & freshly cracked black pepper

Honey Chipotle Cream (recipe below)

Toppings of your choice (I didn’t add anything extra, but avocado or queso fresco would be great if you have it on hand)

Instructions:

Pre-heat oven to 450 F. While oven pre-heats, empty can of black beans into a small pot and add chili powder, chipotle powder, garlic powder, oregano, bay leaf, and salt & pepper to taste. Bring to a sputter; reduce heat and simmer while you prepare the remaining ingredients. Remove bay leaf before serving.

Place pepper strips on a lined baking sheet; drizzle with olive oil and season with salt & pepper. Toss to coat. Roast in pre-heated oven for 15-20 minutes or until charred, tossing once during process.

Melt butter in a skillet over med-high heat; add corn in single layer and heat for about 5 minutes, stirring once or twice. If using corn that hasn’t been charred, I like to do this in a cast iron pan and turn the heat up to high to char it a bit. Once corn is heated through, season with salt & pepper and set aside.

Char your tortillas – if you’re lucky enough to have a gas range, this can be done over the open flame. I don’t, and char my tortillas in a dry cast iron skillet over high heat for about 30 seconds to a minute on each side. If you don’t have a cast-iron skillet, I’m sure a regular skillet would work (I just wouldn’t use a non-stick skillet, since the pan needs to get super hot).

Assemble your tacos: spread a layer of beans on each tortilla, followed by a couple strips of pepper, corn, and a generous helping of honey chipotle cream. Serve immediately.

Honey Chipotle Cream

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sour cream

2 tbsp honey

1 tsp chipotle powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

Juice from 1/2 a lime

Salt

Instructions:

Stir all ingredients other than salt together; season with salt to taste. Bada bing bada boom, you’re done.

Note: you may need to adjust the amount of chipotle powder and honey, depending on desired spicy/sweet level.