Soft corn tortillas get smothered with vegetarian refried beans then topped with chili powder-roasted shredded brussels sprouts, creamy avocado, salty feta cheese, and fresh salsa. Who says you need meat to enjoy tacos?

Happy (almost end of) January! This month’s Recipe Redux Challenge asked members to come up with a recipe that shows off their favorite kitchen tool:

Did you receive a trendy new cooking gadget as a holiday gift? Or do you have a tried-and-true kitchen tool you couldn’t do without? Show us a healthy recipe highlighting a favorite kitchen tool, gadget, or gizmo.

As much as I love my sous vide, blender, and crock pot, the tool I use the most often is my food processor. I know many of you probably bought a food processor, used it once or twice, then stashed it away in a cupboard where it was quickly forgotten about. Well I’m about to give you ten reasons why it’s time to dust it off! I honestly use my food processor at least twice a week – it’d be even more if I didn’t do a bunch of meal prep on weekends! So what could I possibly use it so often for?

1. Shredding vegetables – seriously, your food processor is a lifesaver for shredding vegetables. I’ll touch on this more further in the post, but that shredding blade your food processor came with is perfect for making coleslaw or dicing carrots and zucchini for breads/cakes. It’s also a dream when making beet burgers – no more stained purple hands from using a cheese grater!
2. Making energy bites and other granola bars. If you’re a fan of LaraBars and other treats involving nuts and dates, you can save a bunch of money by making your own at home. Bonus tip: buy your dates and nuts in bulk online – you’ll save even more! Here are some recipe ideas to get you started: Thin Mint Date Bites, Oatmeal Cookie Dough Date Bites, Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites, Brownie Batter Bites, Matcha Green Tea Bites, and Snickerdoodle Bites
3. Blending up sauces, like tzatziki, pesto, and hummus. It’s almost Super Bowl time people, and your food processor can help make snack prep a breeze! P.S. My Cheesy Walnut Beet Sauce is as delicious as it is pretty to look at.
4. Making your own oat flour. Pulsed oats are a great, healthy substitution for breadcrumbs or blend those oats all the way into flour for an extra fiber-dose in your baked goods.
5. Nut butters! While I personally haven’t delved into homemade nut butters yet (don’t worry, that’ll be changing in about 1-2 weeks. . .stay tuned!). But my friends and family that make their own love it as you can control just how much salt and sugar goes into it. Plus you can get creative with seasonal flavors and different nut combinations.
6. Make the perfect cookie crust by blending any cookies you want then mixing with butter. Check out my Light and Lemony Cheesecake Squares for a deceptively healthy treat.
7. Forget mystery ground meat from the grocery store and grind your own at home. Just be sure to clean your food processor VERY well afterwards!
8. Blend frozen bananas with peanut butter for a delicious, yet healthy frozen treat.

I’m sure if you go online you’ll find a bunch of other uses for your food processor, but those eight are the ways I use mine the most often.

This recipe is super simple thanks to being able to shred brussels sprouts in the food processor. Simply cut the bottoms off the sprouts, remove the bitter outer leaves, then shred away! Once shredded, those pretty green veggies get tossed in olive oil, cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper, and then are roasted for about 10-15 minutes. If you like brussels sprouts, you’re going to love this new way to eat them! And if you aren’t a fan of them? Try shredding them – you may be surprised at how much you like them when you don’t have to bite and chew a whole sprout. I took mine out just when they were starting to get crispy, but if you’re a fan of crispy bits definitely keep these in closer to the 15 minute mark.

Once your sprouts are shredded and roasted, the rest of this recipe is super easy. Simply open a can of vegetarian refried beans (or make your own) and heat them up on the stove while your sprouts roast. Once everything is ready to go, it’s pretty much standard taco-making: pile everything on per personal preference. I stuck with just beans, sprouts, feta cheese, avocado, and salsa, but feel free to add or sub in any of your favorite taco toppings.

Do you have a favorite kitchen appliance or use for a food processor that I didn’t mention? I’d love to hear!

Hope you all had a good weekend! Bry and I kept our ski legs strong with a day at Copper Mountain followed by a fun night at Upstairs Circus. While I definitely didn’t get the artistic gene, I still had a blast – after all drinks + crafting with friends, it’s hard to go wrong. If you live in the Denver area, I highly recommend checking it out!

So here’s a toast to the food processor and all the delicious foods you can make with it! 

Print Recipe

Chili-Roasted Brussels Sprouts Tacos

Soft corn tortillas get smothered with vegetarian refried beans then topped with chili powder-roasted shredded brussels sprouts, creamy avocado, salty feta cheese, and fresh salsa. Who says you need meat to enjoy tacos?

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time20 mins

Total Time30 mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American, Mexican

Keyword: Tacos, Vegetarian

Servings: 4

Calories: 345kcal

Author: Kelli

Ingredients

• 1 lb brussels sprouts
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp chili powder
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• Pinch salt and pepper
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 15- oz can vegetarian refried beans
• ½ cup feta or Cojita cheese
• 1 avocado diced
• 8 white corn tortillas
• Salsa and any other taco toppings of choice

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 425F and line baking sheet with parchment paper.
• While oven is preheating, slice bottoms off brussels sprouts and remove bitter outer leaves. Coarsely shred brussels sprouts in a food processor fitted with a slicing blade.
• Toss shredded sprouts with olive oil, cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Spread in an even layer on prepared baking sheet.
• Roast brussels sprouts for 15-20 minutes, or until tender and brown. I recommend rotating the pan and stirring half way through. While brussels sprouts roast, heat refried beans in a small saucepan over medium-low heat.
• To plate, spread refried beans over each tortilla then add shredded brussels sprouts, salsa, diced avocado, feta cheese, and any other toppings of choice. Dig in and enjoy!
• For leftovers, I recommend storing each ingredient separate then combine at time of eating.

Notes

Nutrition for ¼ of recipe (amounts will vary with any additional toppings): 343 calories, 4 g saturated fat, 42 g carbohydrate, 11 g fiber, 5 g sugar, 11 g protein

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