Sweet Potato And Black Bean Tacos Recipe

Your family taco nights don't need to be filled with beef, chicken, or chorizo. It's completely possible to enjoy a vegetarian-friendly meal the next time you whip up those delicious, hand-held entrees. This recipe for sweet potato and black bean tacos is easy to make and is packed with flavor. "To enhance their flavor, the sweet potatoes are roasted with smoked paprika," says recipe developer Annabelle Randles of the special ingredient. "The smoky sweet potatoes are balanced out by the fresh salsa." 

And while all the different elements (the sweet potatoes, the black bean salsa, and the smashed avocado) are made from scratch, that doesn't mean the recipe is hard to make. In fact, one of Randles' favorite things is just how easy it is to throw together. You can have four full servings ready to plate, garnish, and serve in just 35 minutes. Talk about the perfect weeknight dinner!

There are three different elements you'll need to collect ingredients for — the sweet potato filling, the salsa, and the smashed avocado. Then, you'll also need tortillas and toppings for serving. It's quite a few items altogether, but they're all readily accessible at most grocery stores. 

For the sweet potatoes filling, you'll need a few sweet potatoes of course, along with olive oil, smoked paprika, paprika, and salt. For the salsa, you'll need a can of black beans, canned corn kernels, cherry tomatoes, an orange bell pepper, fresh cilantro, cumin, salt, a clove of garlic, and a lime. The tomatoes, pepper, cilanto, lime, and garlic will all need to be prepped (chopped, diced, grated, and juiced) before you make the salsa. 

For the smashed avocado, you'll need avocados, another lime, garlic powder, and salt. And finally, when it comes time to serve everything up, you'll need flour tortillas, a red onion, a cup of crumbled feta cheese, and yet another lime. 

To get started, go ahead and preheat the oven to 425 F. As it heats up, peel and slice the sweet potatoes into small pieces about a half-inch wide. Just remember that sweet potatoes can be particularly hard, which can make them challenging to cut. Randles suggests using an especially sharp (or recently sharpened) chef's knife or paring knife to make this task easier. "It helps if the sweet potatoes are not too big so they are easier to cut," she adds. When the pieces are cut, place them all in a bowl along with the oil and seasonings, and toss them together until they're evenly coated. 

Place the seasoned pieces of sweet potatoes on a baking sheet. Spread them out so they're in a single layer and have some space in between them. This will help them cook more evenly. Place them in the oven and cook them until they're soft and golden brown. This should take about 25 to 30 minutes. "Give them a toss partway through roasting," Randles says, to make sure they're cooked evenly on all sides. 

As the sweet potatoes are cooking, throw together all the ingredients for the black bean salad in a large bowl. This includes the black beans, corn, tomatoes, orange bell pepper, juice from one lime, garlic, cumin, salt, and chopped cilantro. Toss them all together until the ingredients are mixed evenly. Set the bowl aside. 

When the salsa is mixed, move on to the smashed avocado. A smashed avocado is more-or-less the same as guacamole, it's just missing some of the add-ins (like onions or tomatoes). Simply mash the peeled avocados in a bowl with the juice of half a lime and garlic powder. Slowly sprinkle in salt and mix the avocado until it's seasoned to your liking. 

Of course, if you'd prefer a creamy topping that has a few more add-ins, Randles admits that making a full-fledged guacamole is a good choice, too.

Now that all the elements for your tacos have been made, all that's left to do is assemble the ingredients into tacos. Simply place equal portions of sweet potatoes in the middle of each tortilla. Top with salsa and mashed potatoes, then garnish it all with red onion, feta cheese, chopped cilantro, and lime wedges. 

Randles suggests serving the tacos with iced tea, water flavored with lemon or lime, beer, or wine. She also notes that the tacos are best eaten the same day because avocados don't keep well. That said, if you have extra salsa, you can keep it and store it in the fridge for up to two days." 

And like with most taco recipes, there's some room for flexibility. For instance, you can use corn tortillas in place of flour tortillas. or you can use cotija cheese or queso fresco in place of the feta.