roasted asparagus and veggie tacos & prada count down!

Who else is ready for the weekend?? Tomorrow is our big Greyhound adoption day!!  OMG, we are excited and nervous but really looking forward to meeting Italy (or, Prada as we'll call her).  We have had eleven foster Cavaliers come through our home so we feel like we are "somewhat" ready, but it has been years since we had a BIG dog in our home.  Hoping everyone meshes really well together. Still waiting to finalize the day and how we are meeting up as Italy is a couple of hours from us.  Fingers crossed it's a successful day!

I couldn't wait yesterday to get home from work and have a nice quiet night home with J.  I have been dying to make roasted asparagus & veggie tacos and this was just the perfect night for them!  My husband couldn't believe how great the asparagus was IN a taco!  Who knew?!?  LOL!

Roasted Asparagus and Veggie Tacos
makes about 8

vegan fajitas & spicy refried black beans

Skipped the gym last night as my hip was still hurting pretty bad.  All was good as I had an amazing dinner I wanted to cook up for J.  I have made veggie fajitas many times, but was really happy with this recipe!  The marinade really made the difference on this recipe. To go with it I whipped up some quick guacamole and spicy refried black beans.

Making these worked out great as Friday at work we are having a going away party for a co-worker.  The menu - Mexican...beef, chicken, cheese...you get the picture.  I know I am safe with rice and hopefully the beans if there isn't cheese on top.  However, now I am armed with a mason jar filled with vegan fajita leftovers that I can bring in and enjoy with everyone else!  Again, thinking ahead will save you every time!

Vegan Fajitas
From: Diary of a Nutritionist

 Fajita Marinade

•          2 T. Water
•          1 T. Orange juice
•          Juice of 2 limes
•          3 Chipotle chiles, chopped
•          3 T. Roughly chopped fresh cilantro leaves
•          ¼ tsp. Ground cumin
•          ½ tsp Chili powder
•          ¼ tsp Paprika
•          1 T. Gluten-free tamari, low sodium

Fajita Mix

•          8 oz. Portabella mushrooms, sliced into strips
•          1 Yellow bell pepper, deseeded and cut into strips
•          1 Red bell pepper, deseeded and cut into strips
•          1 Orange bell pepper, deseeded and cut into strips
•          1 Red onion, diced
•          1 Cup scallions, chopped
•          4 Garlic cloves, roughly chopped
•          8 Soft corn tortillas

Heat a medium pan to medium-high heat. Add garlic, peppers, red onion and 2-4 T. of water or vegetable broth to prevent sticking. Sauté for 4 minutes and add mushrooms and scallions, stirring constantly. Sauté for 4 minutes, or until peppers and onion are sweating, and add remaining marinade ingredients. Cover and let steam on low heat for 6 minutes to absorb marinade flavors.

Edit: The recipe really didn't tell how to use the Marinade very well.  I mixed mine up before starting the Fajita Mix.  Once I added the mushrooms and scallions I added the Marinade to my mix.  Seemed to work great!

The black beans were pretty simple.  I used two cans of low sodium black beans, rinsing them first, and placing 1/2 in my food processor along with jalapenos and spicy carrots. Pulse until slightly lumpy. Add those, the other 1/2 of black beans and 1 T. of garlic powder into a pot and heat on low until warm all they way through.

Enjoy!