Black Bean Breakfast Tacos

Halloween prep is underway and Sofia has opinions. She wants to be a firefighter. Not a princess, not a unicorn, not a Disney character — a firefighter. My heart is doing things it's not anatomically designed to do. Jessica found a kids' turnout coat costume online and ordered it, and Sofia has been wearing it around the house every day since it arrived, including to dinner, to the bathtub, and to bed. She answers to "Captain Sofia" and nothing else.

Diego will be a dinosaur because Diego is always a dinosaur. The kid eats, sleeps, and breathes dinosaurs. He has a T-Rex toy he carries everywhere — its name is "Rex," because Diego values efficiency over creativity — and he roars at strangers in the grocery store. Jessica and I have stopped apologizing. If you're not prepared to be roared at by a fifteen-month-old in a shopping cart, that's on you.

At the station, fall means wildfire season is winding down and the holiday calls are ramping up. Thanksgiving through New Year's is the busiest stretch for structure fires — people overloading electrical circuits with decorations, cooking fires from unattended turkeys, candle fires, space heater fires. I've started running extra training drills with my crew, and Travis has stepped up as a drill leader, which is the first sign that the probie is becoming a firefighter.

I've been developing a new recipe for the Roberto notebook: sweet potato and black bean tacos. Roasted sweet potato cubes (good glycemic index, high fiber, naturally sweet), seasoned with cumin and smoked paprika. Black beans (excellent for diabetes management). Topped with a quick avocado crema and pickled red onion. Served on my modified low-carb tortillas. The whole plate is essentially a diabetes management tool disguised as Mexican food, which is the whole point of the notebook — make the medicine taste like home.

Took it to Mom and Dad's on Thursday. Roberto ate three tacos without comment, which is three more tacos than he's ever eaten without comment. Elena watched from the kitchen with tears in her eyes. She does that now — watches me cook for her husband and cries quietly, not from sadness but from gratitude. I pretend not to see it because she'd be embarrassed. But I see it. I always see it.

Sofia went trick-or-treating in the neighborhood on Saturday in her firefighter costume. She walked up to every house, said "Trick or treat, I'm a firefighter like my daddy," and collected candy with the efficiency of a seasoned professional. Diego lasted four houses before falling asleep in the stroller, clutching Rex, wearing half his dinosaur costume because he'd torn the tail off. My kids.

The Roberto notebook started because I needed the medicine to taste like home, and these black bean breakfast tacos are exactly that kind of recipe — the kind where nobody at the table is thinking about glycemic index, they’re just thinking about how fast they can reach for another one. Roberto ate three on Thursday night without a word of complaint, which in our family is the highest possible praise. If you’ve got someone at your table who needs to eat well but doesn’t want to feel like they’re eating a prescription, this one’s for them.

Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 15 min | Total Time: 25 min | Servings: 4 (2 tacos each)

Ingredients

1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
6 large eggs
8 small corn tortillas (6-inch)
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Salt and black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
1/2 small yellow onion, finely diced
1 jalapeño, seeded and minced
1 ripe avocado, sliced or roughly mashed
1/2 cup fresh salsa or pico de gallo
1/4 cup crumbled cotija or feta cheese (optional)
Fresh cilantro leaves, for serving
Lime wedges, for serving

Instructions

Season the beans. In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, warm 1/2 tablespoon olive oil. Add the drained black beans, cumin, smoked paprika, chili powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Stir to coat and cook for 4–5 minutes until heated through and fragrant. Remove from heat and cover to keep warm.
Sauté the aromatics. In a medium non-stick skillet over medium heat, warm the remaining olive oil. Add the diced onion and jalapeño and cook for 3–4 minutes until softened.
Scramble the eggs. Crack the eggs into a bowl, season with salt and pepper, and whisk until combined. Pour into the skillet with the onion and jalapeño. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring gently with a spatula, until eggs are just set and still slightly glossy, about 3–4 minutes. Remove from heat immediately.
Warm the tortillas. Heat corn tortillas directly over a gas burner for 20–30 seconds per side, or in a dry skillet over medium-high heat, until lightly charred and pliable. Stack and cover with a clean towel to keep warm.
Assemble the tacos. Lay two warm tortillas on each plate. Spoon a generous layer of seasoned black beans onto each tortilla, then top with the scrambled eggs. Add a spoonful of fresh salsa, a few slices or a dollop of avocado, and a sprinkle of cotija if using.
Finish and serve. Scatter fresh cilantro over the top and serve immediately with lime wedges on the side for squeezing.

Nutrition (per serving)

Black Bean Breakfast Tacos — The Recipe That Made Roberto Eat Three Without Comment