Taco Tuesday! Homemade Grilled Flank Steak & Bean Tacos w/ Calabacitas. Some progress pics

1.) I was originally going to make chimichangas with flank steak and bean filling, but it was already a lot of work for the day putting everything together. It still turned out to be a pretty decent dinner. Numbered for whatever.

2.) Start off with 4 cans of beans - your preference really

3.) Combine beans and 2-4 tsp of tomato paste in a crock pot, 1-2 tsp of cumin, and a 1-2 tsp of vinegar ( I prefer apple cider). I tend not to rinse the beans and reserve the starch at the bottom since it acts as a natural thickener.

4.) Getting the rub together. About equal parts fresh cracked pepper, garlic powder, onion powder with some new mexico red chili powder.

5.) Threw in some soy sauce and gave it a good shake. Let it come up to temp / marinate while the coals were getting started.

6.) Mhmm.. smells good.

7.) Now its time to let the meat rest. Afterwards, cube the flank steak and put into your crock-pot.

8.) Roasted up the green chile- half of these are store bought, but came from from Hatch, NM. The tiny guys are heirlooms from my garden. I procrastinated on transplanting to a larger pot - hence the size.

9.) All roasted up - I like to tent / wrap them in foil while they cool. The steam makes it much easier to peel.

10.) Smaller chiles and the corn grilled up for Calabacitas

11.) Starting to peel the skin off - make sure to wear gloves, or your hands will be burning later.

12.) While that's going I'm sauteing some onions for the beef/ been mix.

13.) Now to make the taco sauce for the beef /bean mix. I've got about 8 oz of fresh roasted green chile , mixed with some of the liquid form the crock pot. Since most of our spices are already in the sauce, we don't need to add anything else.

14.) All mixed together and smelling good. I like to cook on low for a minimum of 2 hours so all the flavors come together.

15.) Roasted chiles and corn put aside for the Calabacitas

17.) Fresh made tortillas ready to grill up- recipe here: https://imgur.com/gallery/SHe9h

16.) Calabacitas are pretty easy to make. I usually fry up zucchini, diced tomatoes,onion then add in the corn and chile. Once its all cooked up I like to then add salt, pepper, garlic to taste along with Mexican style cheese and mix real good. The fresh roasted corn and chile give it a really good flavor.

Hope you all enjoy! Dog tax!