An Unexpected Sweetness

One of our favorite activities in the late afternoon is for R. to gather his bucket and pail, to put D. in his car seat and take a walk through the neighborhood to the lake. There we throw rocks in the water, look for fish, and watch people swimming at the town beach. If the timing is right, we make it home just in time for dinner.

So, on days like this I love to have a quick and easy meal almost completely ready for us to eat. Tonight, with just a few ingredients, it worked. I always keep frozen tortillas on hand (I prefer the texture of corn and highly recommend trying to get authentic ones, though any will be delicious) and I make sure to have a selection of beans. Whole Foods and Trader Joes both have "refried beans" that are simply cooked, mashed and spiced beans. They are not actually fried, so they are low in fat and offer low sodium varieties.

We still had some lettuce, tomatoes, carrots and radishes left from our trip to the farm, as well as some fresh peaches. I had read about using peaches to make a salsa, but when time ran out (R. was so ready to go for our walk that he brought me his hat, his sunscreen and his water shoes!), I simply cut them up and threw them in a bowl.

When we returned from our voyage, I simply heated my cast iron skillet to medium heat and put the frozen tortillas down for just a few minutes on each side. I prefer them to be soft and pliable, though my husband leaves them on a for a few more minutes to get a grilled taste and texture.

I heated the bean up in the microwave and served them with the chopped up veggies and fruit. We started by wrapping the beans and tomatoes in the tortillas, but the adventurous FoodieDaddy went further and added, yes, peaches. Once he proclaimed them to be delicious, I tried them as well, with a squirt of lime (to cut the sweetness) and a splash of salt.

And, remarkably, they were fantastic. The mixture of tastes, akin to any sweet and sour dish, just worked. R., as always, ate his in a more deconstructionist style (first he ate some beans, then the tomatoes, then the peaches and finally, a few bites of tortilla) but we were all well fed within minutes.