Meatless Monday: Gary's T-Night Tacos

We did it again! Continuing on the New Year track we vowed to stay meatless on Mondays--even the Mister, who planned his lunch around Fresh-n-Easy offerings, and snuck in a chicken thigh at 11-something last night.

Tonight's recipe was awesome, and direct from Laurie David's Family Dinner cookbook. We are a taco-lovin, bean eating bunch so Gary's T-Night Tacos seemed a perfect match. Using two onions (Shhh!), black beans and the secret ingredients of maple syrup and tamari, this hearty filling made fantastic tacos (and burritos for the boys).

For toppings we used thinly sliced cabbage, fresh avocado, chopped tomato and cucumber, Greek yogurt and shredded cheese. Instead of the dressing suggested for cucumber salsa, I used a lime cilantro dressing I had already made for another recipe. The boys ate theirs without the dressing, but with most of the other toppings.

Max ate about 2/3 of his, Beck finished his off, and, well, the pan is now empty. I consider it a success!

Oh, and after dinner we got all cuddly and weepy watching this awesome cover (from some locals) of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros "Home". Then, this great studio clip of the real deal...

The New Napoleon Dynamite

One of the ways we might pass our time at an extraordinarily casual dinner at home, is for Jarrod to show us all skateboarding or bike videos (on the laptop, at the table...GASP!). These 3-5 min. movies showcase serious stunts by average dudes.

Tonight, I got a special showing of Jarrod's latest find. In a word, sweet. I'm crushing on this Erik Elstran, who is a nouveau Napoleon Dynamite with sweet skills and rad music. Not your typical testosterone trickster, Elstran really rocks his bike in style and uses a bit of humor to keep you wanting more.

Check it out:

Erik Elstran - April 2009 from North of Ten on Vimeo.