Black Bean Street Tacos with Tropical Fruit Salsa

These Black Bean Street Tacos with Tropical Fruit Salsa are sponsored by USA Pulses & Pulse Canada. As a proud pulse partner, I’m sharing a series of healthy recipes featuring chickpeas, dry peas, lentils, and beans this year. (Bookmark the series index for easy access to all of my #HalfCupHabit recipes!)

I eat a lot of fresh fruit during the summer. I might have a yogurt parfait for breakfast, a fruit and vegetable salad for lunch, and a smoothie for a snack. Even after all of this, you’ll still find me throwing a little fruit salsa on my tacos come dinner—especially this time of year.

I’ve been getting lots of questions about fruit lately—Is it healthy? Is there too much sugar? Does eating fruit cause cancer? (Spoiler alert: nope, it doesn’t—and neither does soy, by the way.)

Whole fruits do have some sugar (also known as energizing carbohydrates) but this sugar is also wrapped up with beneficial compounds like dietary fiber (a blood sugar stabilizer) and tons of vitamins and minerals that we simply can’t live without.

Combine fresh tropical fruits like pineapple and mango with the fiber- and protein-packed pulses we know more commonly as beans, peas, chickpeas, and lentils, and you’ve got a perfectly balanced summer taco plate that’s ready to eat in less than 30 minutes. (Use any pulse you like—black beans are my personal favorite for all things Mexican-inspired!)

Include a half-cup of pulses (that’s about three of these black bean street tacos) three times a week to reach your wellness goals without sacrificing flavor, variety, or satisfaction. Need some added motivation? Sign up for the Half-Cup Habit challenge to get healthy recipe ideas, pulse nutrition information, and a handy half-cup scoop that will make meal prepping a breeze!

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Black Bean Street Tacos with Tropical Fruit Salsa

Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

10 mins

Total Time

25 mins

 

Add a little zest to your summer meals with healthy Black Bean Street Tacos topped with Tropical Fruit Salsa!

Course: Appetizer, entree

Cuisine: dairy-free, gluten-free, plant-based, vegan, vegetarian

Servings: 2

Author: Stephanie McKercher, RDN

Ingredients

• Beans:
• 2 teaspoons cooking oil of choice I used grapeseed oil
• ¼ cup diced red onion
• 1 cup cooked black beans about 1 can drained and rinsed
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce substitute with gluten free tamari if needed
• 2 cloves pressed garlic
• Tropical Fruit Salsa:
• ⅓ cup diced pineapple
• ⅓ cup diced mango
• ¼ cup diced red bell pepper
• ¼ cup diced tomato
• ½ lime zest and juice
• 1 minced jalapeño pepper remove seeds and membranes if less heat preferred
• ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro loose
• Salt to taste
• For serving:
• 6-12 small street taco tortillas use corn tortillas for gluten free option
• 1 cup packaged broccoli slaw substitute with greens of choice

Instructions

1. Heat oil in a small saucepan. Add onion, beans, cumin, chili powder, soy sauce, and garlic and cook over medium heat until hot, about 6-8 minutes.
2. Combine diced pineapple, mango, bell pepper, tomato, lime, jalapeño, cilantro, and salt in a medium-sized mixing bowl and set aside.
3. Warm tortillas if desired and then lay flat for taco assembly. (Use two tortillas per taco if desired.) Top each tortilla with ⅙ broccoli slaw, ⅙ black beans, and ⅙ fruit salsa. Enjoy!
4. (The black beans and fruit salsa can be made in advance and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week. For best results, assemble tacos just before serving.)

What are your favorite ways to incorporate fruits into your meals?