Indian Tacos
Indian tacos build hot frybread into open-faced plates piled with stewed anasazi beans, roasted Anaheim chiles, avocado, plum tomatoes, arugula, and red onion. Pueblo and Navajo street-food at home.
YIELD
6 servingsPREP
20 minCOOK
3 hrsREADY
4 hrsIndian tacos are the open-faced flatbread plate found at powwows and roadside stands across the American Southwest, where Navajo and Pueblo cooks pile frybread high with whatever bean, meat, or salad makings the day calls for. This vegetarian version leans on heritage anasazi beans, the speckled red-and-white legumes that pre-date European contact in this region, simmered slow until the skins burst and the pot turns creamy.
The topping bar does the heavy work. Roasted Anaheim chiles bring smoky, mild heat. Halved golden plum tomatoes and a slice of red tomato bring acid and color. Sliced avocado cools, sliced radish snaps, red onion rings sharpen, and a tangle of peppery arugula holds it all together. The instructions give you a suggested order, but the joy of an Indian taco is the freedom to build it however you like.
Pro Tips
- Soak the anasazi beans the full overnight. They cook unevenly otherwise, and the three-hour simmer turns into closer to four.
- Roast the chiles directly on a gas burner or under a broiler until the skins blacken, then steam in a paper bag for ten minutes. The skins slip right off.
- Frybread is best eaten within ten minutes of frying. Keep the dough cool until just before you cook it, and serve immediately.
- Salt the beans only at the end of the cook. Early salt slows the softening of the skins.
Variations
- Use pinto beans or black beans if you can’t find anasazi.
- Add a scoop of seasoned ground beef, shredded chicken, or chorizo for the meat-eater version most powwow stands serve.
- Top with crumbled queso fresco, sour cream, and a drizzle of green chile sauce for a fully loaded taco.
Ingredients
Directions
To prepare the anasazi beans, soak overnight in water to cover.
The next day, drain the beans and place them in a saucepan with fresh water to cover.
Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and let the beans simmer until the skins break, about 3 hours.
It may be necessary to add water as the beans cook to prevent them from burning and sticking.
After the beans are cooked, remove from the heat and set aside.
You should have about 3 cups cooked beans.
While the beans are cooking, roast, seed, and devein the chiles and the pepper.
Leave chiles whole; slice pepper lengthwise into six strips.
To start building the tacos, place ½ cup cooked beans on each piece of frybread.
Add ¼ cup greens per taco, followed by a red tomato slice.
Add 4 slices avocado and 1 slice red onion, separated into rings.
Follow with radishes and 4 golden yellow plum tomatoes per taco, and top with 1 roasted green chile and 2 slices roasted red pepper or chile.
You can vary the toppings and the order in which the taco is built.
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