Name: Vegetarian Fajitas with Black Beans
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 2 tbsp olive oil (organic, fairtrade); 2 red peppers (organic, de-seeded and cut into strips); 2 yellow peppers (organic, de-seeded and cut into strips); 2 red onions (organic, peeled and thinly sliced); 500 g sweet potatoes (peeled, diced 2cm cubes); 400 g black beans (tinned /canned organic, fairtrade); 2 tsp sweet smoked paprika (organic, fairtrade); 2 tsp ground cumin (organic, fairtrade); 1 tsp chilli powder (organic, fairtrade); 8 tortillas (organic)

There are so many options for vegetarian and vegan fajitas and these black bean fajitas make a delicious meal that's super easy to put together. Roast your vegetables in a simple homemade tex-mex spice mix, gather some toppings and you're good to go. There is minimal prep time. Everything is cooked in one tray and it's ready in just 30 minutes.

roasted vegetables on open tortillas served with avocado and slice lime — Serve with avocado, lime and sprinkling of fresh coriander

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A Fairtrade Fajita

The spices for the fajita seasoning mix are paprika, ground cumin and chilli powder and they can all be bought Fairtrade. You can also buy Fairtrade black beans. Fairtrade is a global movement. It works to make a difference in the lives of the farmers who produce our food and ensures they are paid a fair price. As well as this, the Fairtrade movement works hard to tackle climate change and promote sustainable farming practices. Check out my most popular Fairtrade recipes.

Look for the Fairtrade label when shopping

Other Fairtrade Recipes

For these veggie fajitas, just toss the vegetables in the spice mix and roast them in the oven for a lovely sweet and spicy flavour. I've chosen red onions, red and yellow peppers and sweet potatoes. You can choose other vegetables if you like. I always try and make sure to add a variety of colours as it makes it more appealing.

Vegetables to use in fajitas

Red peppers
Yellow peppers
Red onions
Sweet potato
Mushrooms - larger mushrooms such as portobello are best
Broccoli
Sweetcorn
Courgette /zucchini

roasted sweet potato peppers red onion black beans in bowl — Using different colours in your vegetable fajitas makes them visually appealing

Toppings

One of the best things about vegetarian fajitas, is, I think, the toppings. You will probably have your favourites, but these are some of mine.

Soured cream
Lime, squeeze some lime juice over the toppings for an authentic mexican flavour.
Coriander /Cilantro - a few fresh leaves adds flavour
Avocado - add a few slices of avocado or guacamole
Diced fresh tomatoes or a salsa
Grated cheese.

Vegan alternative to soured cream

Fajitas are a great vegan dish, but soured cream is dairy and therefore not vegan. As I think the toppings are so important, I want to offer an alternative for vegans. A vegan creme fraiche, organic oat cream or even plain soy yoghurt are good alternatives. I would stir in a dash of lemon juice and maybe even a little mustard to make it taste more sour. If you need to thicken it up, mix some cornflour into a paste and stir it in.

How to make fajitas

I like to add black beans to the fajitas and roast everything all together in one tray. The black beans take on some of the spicy flavourings and go a little crispy, which gives nice texture. It also means everything is warm and ready at the same time.

Black beans are a traditional mexican ingredient and are also very healthy. Use cooked black beans, which are tinned or canned, rather than dried as dried beans have a much longer cooking time. Always drain and rinse the beans before adding to the roasting tray.

sliced peppers red onion and diced sweet potatoes in roasting tin — 2

Fajita spice mix paprika, cumin and chilli powder in a bowl — 2

Pre-heat the oven to 200C /400F /gas mark 6
Slice the peppers and onions and cut the sweet potato into cubes about 2cm across.
Mix the spices together in a bowl.
Add the olive oil to a baking tin and add the vegetables and black beans. Sprinkle over the spices and toss the vegetables in the oil and spices and make sure they are well coated.
Roast the vegetables and black beans in the oven for 25 minutes. Turn half way through to make sure they roast evenly.
Warm the tortillas and place the vegetables and toppings in the middle of the table and let everyone help themselves.

You can serve the roasted vegetables with some tortillas or tacos or make your own Flatbreads. This is a very easy recipe and only takes 10 minutes.

Storage

Store the vegetable fajita filling in the fridge for 3 - 4 days.