Chipotle sweet potato, black bean, and guacamole tacos

If you've been reading here for long at all, you know that I love sweet potatoes. And Zack and I love fresh, homemade tacos.

As I've mentioned before, I've become a little interested in the meatless Monday movement. New studies are showing that going meatless one day per week has benefits for a healthier heart. This week, however, I decided to take the idea a step further and go meatless for the week. Mainly because we kind of overindulged last weekend (think burgers, gyros, pizza - not all at once though). Ha ha. And I'm not saying I'm about to become a vegetarian - I love meat. But this week needed to be healthy and wholesome; veggies and grains and spices were calling me. This taco recipe, that I found on a blog through Pinterest, was the perfect way to kick off the week.

Chipotle sweet potato, black bean, and guacamole tacos

As adapted from Naturally Ella.

Serves 4.

Ingredients for tacos:

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

2 medium sweet potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1 15-oz. can of black beans, rinsed and drained

2 chipotles in adobo sauce, roughly chopped

3 tablespoons adobo sauce

Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes

Freshly ground black pepper

1 heaping tablespoon honey

Juice from 1 lime

8-10 6-inch tortillas, preferably corn or whole-wheat, or combination

Ingredients for guacamole:

2 avocados

1/2 medium onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 serrano pepper, diced

Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Juice from 1 lime

2 small tomatoes, diced

Handful of fresh cilantro, plus additional for garnish

Heat olive oil over medium heat in a skillet. Add onions and cook until onions begin to soften, 3-4 minutes. Stir in sweet potatoes and continue to cook for another 3-4 minutes. Combine the chipotles, adobo sauce, crushed red pepper flakes, black pepper, honey, and lime juice in a small bowl. Pour into the skillet with the sweet potatoes and reduce heat to medium-low, stirring occasionally and cooking until sweet potatoes soften, 15-20 minutes. Stir in black beans towards the end of cooking to heat through. While sweet potatoes cook, pulse onions, garlic, serrano pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, salt, black pepper, and lime juice in a food processor; pulse until combined but still a bit chunky. Scoop out insides of avocados, add to food processor, and blend until desired smoothness is reached. Fold in tomato and cilantro. Season with additional salt and pepper as needed. To serve, spread a spoonful of guacamole onto the middle of tortillas, sprinkle about 3 heaping tablespoons of sweet potato mixture onto guacamole, and top with fresh cilantro.

Zack and I have discovered that sweet potatoes are an amazing ingredient to use for tacos. They have incredible color and flavor, and you tend to forget they are replacing your meat of choice because they are so hearty and filling. The chipotles and adobo sauce add this amazing smokiness that I was not expecting. Plus, you can't go wrong with homemade guacamole. I added the crushed red pepper flakes and a bit more of the chile peppers than called for in both the taco mixture and guacamole because Zack and I like a bit of heat.

We saved the components of this recipe separately for better freshness for lunch the next day, and it did not disappoint. If you have not tried sweet potatoes in your tacos, you must. You will be surprised and delighted. They are perfection. And we all like it when the stars align to create a little perfection in our kitchens and cooking. Am I right, or am I right? Cheers.

Shredded beef tacos

Creative tacos and quesadillas have become one of my favorite go-to meals. I think it's because there is so much you can do with them. And soft tortillas are the way to go with tacos, I think. A nice, soft tortilla toasted up in the oven or in a hot pan. It's just right. I like to buy a variety of 6-inch tortillas such as multigrain, corn and whole wheat blends, etc.

I was so excited to open up Might Spice Cookbook, a gift from my mother-in-law, this Christmas. The pictures are beautiful. And the shredded beef tacos from this cookbook are beautiful.

Shredded beef tacos

Adapted from Mighty Spice Cookbook - Fast, Fresh and Vibrant Dishes Using No More Than 5 Spices for Each Recipe

Serves 4. 

Ingredients:

1lb. 2 oz. skirt steak

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

4 tomatoes, finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1 green jalapeño chili, seeded and finely chopped

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

1 tablespoon tomato paste

a pinch of sugar

8 6-inch tortillas, heated

scant 1/2 cup Greek yogurt (optional)

1 head of romaine lettuce, shredded

4-6 radishes, thinly sliced

3 oz. feta cheese

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Bring large saucepan of water to boil. Add beef, turn heat down to low, and simmer 30 minutes, or until beef is cooked through. Remove beef from water and set aside. Meanwhile, heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, 6-8 minutes, or until onion is golden. Add tomatoes, oregano, thyme, jalapeño, vinegar, tomato paste, and sugar. Season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook 20 minutes, or until mixture gets thick. Flake cooked beef and add to pan with tomato sauce. Turn up heat to medium and cook 3-4 minutes until beef is hot. To assemble tacos, place heaping tablespoon of beef into middle of tortillas with a bit of Greek yogurt. Scatter on lettuce, radishes, and feta, and enjoy.

I used some skirt steak I had leftover and frozen from another recipe. I also opted to top my tacos with some Greek yogurt instead of sour cream, as the recipe suggests. 

The beef and tomato mixture was so delightful. This sounds kind of funny to say, but Zack and I thought it almost tasted like beef bolognese. Must have been the oregano and thyme that gave the dish this influence? That being said, these were delicious. The beef is so flavorful, the lettuce adds crunch, and the radishes give it a slightly bitter bite that is really growing on me. "Mighty Spice" was mighty good. You'll be seeing more recipes from this cookbook in the near future.

You regular readers may have noticed that I am now including the recipes, typed-out, in my actual post. That way, you can see adaptations I have made to the recipes. Exploratory, right? And here is a link to the original recipe, for your convenience: Shredded beef tacos.

See you back here, soon. Cheers.