Black bean and sweet potato tacos

Do not ask me why, but all last week I was craving tacos.  I wanted them any way I could get them, but I never got them!  So enough was enough.  I buckled down and made them myself on Sunday evening and they were everything I hoped they would be...and more.

Maybe black beans and sweet potatoes are a common pair in your mind. In mine, not so much.  In fact, before making Harpreet's Sweet Potato and Black Bean Burgers a month or two ago, I had never prepared them together in a single meal.  So, that is why I was so impressed with myself for making these up on a whim.  With homemade pico de gallo, to boot!

Ingredients:

Ezekiel Sprouted corn tortillas

1 sweet potato, baked or roasted

black beans 

avocado, diced

red bell pepper, sliced into strips

purple cabbage, sliced into thin strips

green onion, chopped

seasonings of your choice (cumin, chili powder, etc.)

romaine lettuce leaves

hot sauce of your choice 

This is seriously the easiest recipe I have posted.  If you can even call it a recipe.  If you can assemble a taco, you can make this.  Here are the veggie toppings:

Quick trick:  do you ever have trouble dicing avocado, especially when it is ultra ripe and really soft?  Here is a little trick I use.

1.  Score the half of the avocado in a checkerboard pattern, cutting all the way through the flesh but not through the skin.

2. Slide a spoon in between the flesh and the skin and scoop it all out.

3.  Voila.  Perfectly cubed avocado.  (note: no judgement will be passed if you ever just scoop the avocado straight into your mouth.  Especially if you accidentally sprinkle a little salt on top of it.  I may or may not have done that once or twice before...)

And here is how to make the pico de gallo:

*3 roma tomatoes, diced

*1/4 cup diced yellow onion

*1 clove minced garlic

*1/2 jalapeno, diced

*cilantro, chopped (lots of it, if you love it like I do)

*juice of 1/2 lemon or lime

*coarse sea salt to taste

Dice the tomatoes and onion and put in a bowl.  Mince the garlic (with a mincer if you have one.  Best kitchen gadget gift ever, thanks mom!).  Wash and chop the cilantro, and add to the bowl along with the garlic and lemon/lime juice.  Dice or mince the jalapeno, adding more or less depending on your taste.  I did not de-seed mine, but you can if you want yours on the very mild side (mine was not too spicy, really, anyway).  Season with a pinch of sea salt and serve.  Will keep fresh in a covered container for several days in the fridge.

So like I said.  If you can assemble tacos, you have got this covered.  Neat trick #2:  if you line the tortillas with a leaf of lettuce, it will keep any juices from soaking through the tortilla and therefore prevent the whole thing from falling apart and making a huge mess.  Plus it adds that extra crunch and nutrition!

I warmed the tortillas over a medium flame on my gas stove for about 30 seconds, flipping it every 5 seconds or so.  You will know when they are ready, the corn will become very aromatic and the tortilla will soften.  Be careful not to burn them.  You can also just warm in the bottom of a dry pan.

I layered the lettuce first, then sweet potato (I just baked it so I sliced 1/4 inch thick slices and layered them on top of the lettuce leaves.  I think these would also be amazing if you cubed the sweet potato and then roasted it.)

Next up were the black beans seasoned with cumin, and all the fixin's:  red bell pepper strips, red cabbage strips, green onions, avocado, and pico de gallo.  And, voila!  Or, how would I say voila in Espanol??