Pockets full of gold. I mean, "oro"...

I'm a big fan of Mexican food. One can't be sure when it started or how, being inundated with meat and potatoes or Italian food as a child, but now it's tough to see me go more than a week without some form of tacos or nachos.

This is easy enough when it comes to being vegetarian -- use black beans, right? Which I often do. But one day, I decided to take it a step further, and now it's something Dan and I enjoy reguarly -- last night even.

Here's what you need:
1 can of black beans
1 pkg of tofu
1 pkg of taco seasoning
and anything else you might want for tacos

Basically, I take a package of tofu (any kind really) and drain it as much as my time, patience and hunger will allow. Smash it up with a fork, your hands or whatever other kitchen implement you have on hand.

Rinse and drain a can of black beans and throw these together in a small sauce pan on the stove. Then mix in a package of taco seasoning -- using some water, just like you would with meat (only probably not as much water as you would for meat, especially since there's so much water in tofu). What's cool, too, is that Ortega now makes bulk shakers of it, similar to a large container of Lawry's seasoning salt, for example. So, instead of making sure you have a little packet of seasoning, you always know you have that on hand. It should last a long, long time, using only a couple of tablespoons at a time.

Sometimes I include onions or fresh jalapenos at this point too.

Cook it up and then make it into burritos or tacos or use as a dip for chips.

It's really, really good. And a good way to get some protein in there. I think this is something even meat-eaters would like, but maybe that's just me!