Vegetarian Refried Black Eyed Peas Tacos

Sometimes I am glad that I throw things into a Crock Pot, because you never know when you are going to get hungry. A little known fact about the old electric slow cooker is that it was invented for cooking beans, and let me say that it does an admirable job of that. No soaking is required, and the beans turn out marvelous. I made a batch of black eyed peas a few days ago, and they will become the feature ingredient in some vegetarian tacos, since the little guys are really a bean and not a pea, they should make some great refried stuff. The recipe is pretty simple, and most of the magic happens in the Crock Pot.

Vegetarian Refried Black Eyed Peas Tacos

To make the beans...
Into the Crock Pot:

1 16oz package of Black Eyed Peas
1 red onion (finely chopped)
1 tsp cumin seed
1 tbsp mustard powder
1 tsp whole oregano
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp cracked pepper
3 cloves chopped garlic
2 quarts water

Cook the beans on high for about 6-8 hours, or until they are tender. Easy enough! Now you can enjoy the fresh beans, and store some in the fridge for later after they have cooled off. For the tacos, I am using some of the beans that have been hiding in the fridge for a few days.

To make the Tacos...

1 cup cooked Black Eyed Peas
1 tsp olive oil
3 corn tortillas
1 half avocado
3 tbsp fresh deli salsa
3 tbsp grated cheddar cheese

Fry the beans in a small pan with the olive oil, mashing them as they heat up, until you get a nice pasty refried bean. Toast the corn tortillas in a hot skillet ( a great tip is to dip them in water first, and use a non-stick pan ). Assemble the tacos! Beans first, then cheese so it can get melty on top of the beans, avocado slices, and fresh salsa! That's it!

I may update this post later with the economics, but I am sure it will come out to be very cheap per 3 taco serving.

UPDATE

Food Economics:

I am assuming (economics is always full of assumptions) that for one package of black eyed peas, I come up with 8 servings. Of course, I think that the cooked product actually yields more than this, but for now, it is a good assumption.

Black eyed Peas - 16oz $1.35 = ($0.168 1 serving)
Red Onion - $1 = ($0.125 1 serving)
Cheddar Cheese - 8oz bag $2.49 = ($0.311 1 serving)
Corn Tortillas - 30ct $1.49 = ($0.149 for 3)
Avocado - $0.99 each = ($0.495 for half)
Fresh Salsa - 16oz tub $2.99 = ($0.186 1oz)
All spices, olive oil = ($0.100 this is totally an estimate, since the spices and oil were all in my pantry already)

Grand total = $ 1.54 per 3 taco plate!