Mexican is always a big hit around here. Using black beans however requires forethought and planning. Unless of course you use the tinned variety but I prefer to use dried.

Semi-Refried Black Bean Tacos
1 cup black beans
1 banana chilli, sliced
1 small red chilli, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1/2 400g tin tomatoes
juice 1 lemon
2 – 3 tablespoons of oil or lard
taco shells
grated cheese
sour cream
avocado
shredded salad greens

Soak the beans for 12 – 24 hours in warm water with a couple of tablespoons of whey (the liquid that forms on top of yoghurt. Drain and simmer in fresh water for 4 – 8 hours. I use the slow cooker for this so I’m not stuck at home. Just set the beans to soak before bed and pop them in the slow cooker when you’re making breakfast.
Drain beans and combine with banana chilli, small red chilli, garlic, tomatoes and half the lemon juice. Put in frypan with oil or lard (if you’re using lard, itwon’t be a vegetarian dish). Mash lightly and cook gently for 5 – 10 minutes.
Meanwhile mash avocado and stir through the remaining lemon juice and heat taco shells in oven.
Serve beans, avocado, salad greens, sour cream and grated cheese in separate bowls and let everyone stuff their own shells.

To make this slightly less messy for young kids, I serve theirs up and mix it all together in a bowl. I give them their shells broken in half and a fork so they can fork up the bean/cheese/avocado/sour cream mix or use the shell to scoop it up.