This school term is keeping me very busy. I haven’t stopped creating recipes and taking pictures, but the actual process of synthesizing posts has been on pause. Finally, several weeks in, I have been finding a more regular cadence for handling studies.
The pleasant spring weather is getting me outside more with my boys. I did not realize it was possible to go through so many bottles of bubbles. Also, we had a chance to go the zoo this weekend. The preschooler is still talking about how much he liked the trip and informing me that bats fly. Learning is such an exhilarating thing.
On the recipe front, I have been diving deep into the science of vegan baking. The Earth Balance vegan cupcake challenge was a strong motivating factor in this latest obsession. We ate vanilla avocado cupcakes for almost two weeks while I tweaked the recipe to taste.
Mattie over at veganbaking.net is my baking hero. I learned a lot from the vegan baking tips and tricks blog posts. It was helpful to first understand the chemistry and process of traditional cake ingredients coalesce proper substitution and recreation of plant based recipes. If you are working on honing your baking know how or love the science of things, check it out.
On to the real meat beans of the post. I wanted to share with you my favorite flauta recipe – black bean spinach. First of all, I love making these because they are easy to make and the whole family loves them. It is a bonus to have a few leftovers from dinner because they reheat well and are easy to bring for pack meals.
Fresh out of the oven I love to smother mine in salsa. They are also good with avocado, rice, or a salad. Enjoy and please share a picture or comment of how you choose to serve your flautas.
Smashed black beans and wilted spinach are seasoned with warm spices and topped with melty mexican cheese. All the good ness is delivered in a crisped flour tortilla begging to be smothered in your favorite salsa.
Save RecipeIngredients
- 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
- ⅓-½ cup of vegetable stock
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp chili powder
- ¼ tsp cumin
- ¼ tsp paprika
- ¼ tsp salt
- 3 cups spinach
- 1 package taco sized flour tortillas
- 6 oz shredded melting cheese (Chihuahua, quesadilla or queso fresco)
- olive oil
- salsa, to taste for serving
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 F.
- Place black beans in a large saucepan with a few splashes of vegetable stock. Season the beans with garlic powder, chili powder, cumin, paprika and salt. Use a potato masher to mash the beans as they cook. Continue to add stock through mashing process to achieve a textured paste like refried beans.
- Once beans are mashed, toss the spinach into the pot with the beans. Cook until the spinach is wilted. Stir often during the wilting process. Remove the pan from the heat when spinach has wilted. Stir the bean and spinach mixture so they are well mixed.
- Spoon about 1 Tablespoon of the bean/spinach mix onto the left side of the tortilla in a vertical line. Sprinkle cheese over the bean mix. Roll the tortilla up starting at the left side, tucking the beans and cheese into the middle of the roll. Place the tortilla roll seam side down on lightly oiled baking sheet. Repeat with remaining tortillas and mix. Rub the tops of the prepared flautas with a bit of oil before placing in oven to bake.
- Bake for 5 minutes, rotate the flautas to seam side up and bake another 5 minutes until the outsides are crispy.
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