A healthy vegetarian dish (vegan in one step), mushroom fajitas with black beans are ideal light summer dining, though actually a little decadent. Another child-pleasing favourite from years ago, this is a go-to, reliable dish that's worth dragging out for the summer holidays.
Vegetarian (or vegan) mushroom fajitas with black beans are an easy, adaptable meal. Based on Tex-Mex cooking, their build-your-own format is probably as much a reason kids love them as the flavours themselves. Who doesn't like to construct their own dinner at table?
It's a pretty healthy dish—dial back on the olive oil if you're rigorous—that cooks the black beans in a different way from more traditional "refried beans", which are pretty high in fat, though healthy in terms of easily digestible protein. This version is medium spicy. I've never experienced kids being averse to a bit of spiciness unless they've been socialised into it. Of course, you can exclude or reduce the ingredients that bring the fire.
I'm doing this version in the kitchen. I also cook it for veggies and vegans at a barbecues; so they're not just dished up some crappy fake meat sausage as an afterthought.
This recipe uses sliced avocado because I think it brings an extra sense of "biteable" to the experience. But, you can substitute it for guacamole if you wish.
You can go all fancy with the vaunted Mexican Melipona honey if you want. I'm using Slovenian honey, which I decided is my favourite honey ever since an artist friend gave me a huge jar as a gift—enough Slovenian honey to make me a lifelong addict.
I'm using smoked chipotle flakes. They have a sweet, smoky flavour, as opposed to chipotle paste that is much more fiery. The flakes offer a better way to mediate how spicy you want it.
The instructions below seem epic. In reality it's a very simple meal and more about cooking things in sequence.
This recipe serves 2 to 3 diners. Scale up or down according to the mouths you want to feed. NB: images don't reflect these portions; I've made it in smaller quantities here.
You will almost certainly have leftovers. All bits of this meal can be repurposed—as salads or simply spread on flatbreads—in the days following when you cook it. You can also use the remainders of the salsa verde in excellent iced summer soups.
Shopping list
for the mushroom fajitas with black beans
2 large flat mushrooms (or Portobello mushrooms) per diner
1 large, ripe red bell pepper, cut into large vertical slices
1 large red onion, cut into thick vertical slices
4 or 5 baby sweetcorn, cut into large pieces
1 tin or bottle of black beans (400g)
2 tbspns honey
⅓ small iceberg lettuce; cut into strips, washed and drained
2 or 3 ripe fresh tomatoes, sliced
1 large red chilli, finely sliced
Approx. 1 tspn smoked chipotle flakes
2 tspns finely cubed smoked garlic
Soft flour tortillas; 1 or 2 per diner, depending on appetite
The juice of 2 fresh limes
A little olive oil; approx. 5 tbspns
for the fajita spice mix
You won't use all of this spice mix. I often make it in larger quantities. Store in a dry, clean jar. Alternatively, there are good readymade versions out there. Just check they include the key ingredients. Usually pimentón is missing, but you can easily add it.
1 tspn chilli powder
1 tspn dried garlic flakes
1 tspn pimentón (ideally the "sweet" version)
1 tspn cumin
1 tspn oregano
1 tspn black pepper
a dash of salt
for the salsa verde
2 handfuls of fresh young spinach, washed and roughly chopped
2 handfuls fresh pea shoots, washed
A generous clutch of flat leaf parsely, chopped
Approx. ¼ of a medium cucumber, roughly chopped
4 tbspns extra virgin olive oil
3 tbspns white wine vinegar
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
2 spring onions, roughly chopped
2 tbspns flaked almonds
The juice of ½ a fresh lime
salt and pepper to taste
for the sour cream condiment (optional)
Approx. 150ml sour cream
A generous clutch of fresh coriander (cilantro), finely chopped
2 spring onions, finely sliced
Salt and pepper to taste
Cooking Method
Salsa verde and sour cream condiments
Do these first. You can prepare them before and store in the fridge. Make sure they're ready and returned to room temperature before you serve
In a suitable jug or dish. Add all of your salsa verde ingredients, ensuring there is enough liquid (vinegar, lime juice and oil) and blend until a thick, rough "mess" using a handheld blender. Alternatively, use a food processor or blender. Store appropriately until taking to table
In another dish, mix the soured cream and chopped coriander together. Store sealed in the fridge until getting ready to serve
Mushroom and black bean fajitas—before the mushrooms
Heat the oil in a fairly deep frying pan on a medium-to-high heat. When hot, add the smoked garlic and sizzle for a couple of minutes. Add the chopped chilli, chipotle flakes and fajita spice mix. Sizzle for another minute or two, releasing the aroma. Stir to prevent sticking. Chuck in a dash of wine, beer (or water as a last resort) if it sticks
Add the onions, stirring nonchalantly. Allow to soften. Add the red peppers and cook until they too begin to soften. Add the sweetcorn. Stir, coating in the juices. Cook until the onions and peppers are fairly well cooked—don't be afraid to let them "blacken"—and keep the sweetcorn a little al dente. Decant to a dish with a lid (so it doesn't dry out) and keep warm until taking to table
In the same emptied pan, sauté the black beans, adding a little additional oil and chipotle flakes. Stir the beans to coat. Add a clutch of chopped coriander (and any spring onion not added to the soured cream) and a bit of lime juice. When cooked until tender, but not overcooked, decant to a covered dish until taking to table
Mushroom and black bean fajitas—the mushrooms
Like practically everything in this meal, yes, you can prepare this earlier and reheat before taking to table. But, for the best results, cook last and take directly to table, gathering the rest of the meal's constituent parts together while they're cooking
In a small bowl, stir together ½ tspn of your fajita spice mix, a little sunflower oil and the honey. This will make a mix that doesn't blend that well
Heat a griddle pan—or more conventional frying pan. When very hot, spritz or baste with a tiny amount of oil. Place the mushrooms, "gill" side down, and allow to sear for 3 or 4 mins. While this is happening, baste the top (rounded) side with the spice/oil/honey mixture. Turn using tongs. NB: if cooking inside, open the window, crank up the extractor fan or turn off the smoke alarm: it's gonna smoke
Once you've cooked the large mushrooms on each side for a couple of minutes, remove to a chopping board using tongs and cut into thick slices. Return to the griddle pan and cook, more aggressively, basting the "up" side as you cook—see why this works well on a barbecue?
While your mushrooms are cooking, heat your tortillas, slice your avocados and assemble the rest of the "Lego set" of ingredients and take to table. Top tip: dress your sliced avocado with lime juice and a little wine vinegar to prevent browning
Alternatives
This dish is vegetarian. To make it vegan, simply leave out the soured cream condiment—frankly it's the salsa verde no one should do without—or substitute it with a vegan alternative to soured cream.
Carnivores, perhaps check out this alternative for a very similar dish.
Pairings
I'd originally envisaged serving it with a classic Mexican beer like Corona Extra, which I know works really well with this dish. In the end, I opted for a South African pinotage shiraz blend, the depth of a red offsetting the spices used in the cooking. It worked out really well, a light red clearly managing the implicit smokiness.
Most often I've had it with Sprite. I kid you not: I've most often cooked this meal on "kid duty" when alcohol wasn't an option and the lime in this soft drink—ideally the sugar-free version—worked really well. It's also great with sparkling water with a slice of lime, but in my experience, kids feel ripped off if you try and palm that off on them.
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