sweet potato & kale tacos
Real talk: I miss cheese. I’m on week three of what is almost certainly a case of Coronavirus (doctor confirmed). I’m grateful that it’s been a considerably very mild case and that I’m feeling like myself again, and that I can taste again(!). My body forced me to rest and in turn this time of rest eased my anxieties and reminded me what it feels like to live at a slower, more conscious pace. I’ve come out on the other side of this with a renewed love of cooking (thanks to time) and with my tastebuds intact. For this I have so much gratitude. With some lingering chest congestion and coughing I’m avoiding dairy for the time being, which has brought me back to the place where I first discovered my true love for cooking: experimenting with plant-based foods. From the start of my vegan (I will forever hear this word in my late grandfather’s voice who always pronounced it with a soft g) exploration, cashew cream has been my ultimate creative outlet. There’s so much you can do with it and the sauce in these tacos is one that works with so many dishes. I used the leftovers to make a veggie bowl the next day and that night I tossed some of the cashew cream on my roasted chicken and discovered that this pairing made it taste like ranch dressing. So I’d like to give a shoutout to cashews for helping to satisfy all of my creamy cheesy cravings as I recover and for nourishing me and being a vessel for so many different flavor combinations.
Recipe makes 6-8 tacos
Ingredients
Cashew Cream:
1 cup raw cashews (soak overnight and discard soaking water. You can totally get away with soaking them for 30 minutes. Just blend them really well)
3 heaping Tablespoons nutritional yeast
Juice of half a medium sized lemon (you’ll use the other half for the kale)
2 Tablespoons vinegar (sherry, white wine, balsamic all work well here)
1 large clove of garlic
Drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
Salt - start with a pinch and add to taste (I used 2-3 good pinches of Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt)
Optional: tablespoon mellow miso paste
The other ingredients
2 large sweet potatoes, cut into one inch cubes
Corn tortillas
1 bunch curly kale, de-stemmed and torn into bite sized pieces
2 cloves garlic, sliced thinly or chopped
Juice of half a lemon
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
How to make it
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees, toss sweet potatoes with olive oil, salt and pepper, place in oven and roast for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown on the outside and soft on the inside
While sweet potatoes are cooking, make the cashew cream. Place soaked cashews into a blender and fill with water 3/4 the way up the cashews. Add all other ingredients and blend until smooth.
When potatoes are almost done, add some olive oil to a skillet on medium-high heat. Once hot, add garlic and sauté for a minute (don’t let it brown/burn - turn down heat if necessary). Add kale, season with pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper, toss, incorporating the garlic into the kale so it doesn’t burn on the bottom of the skillet. Cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Finish with a good squeeze of lemon juice.
Warm tortillas in the oven
Time to assemble! Smear a good layer of cashew cream on the tortillas, top with kale, sweet potatoes, and another good drizzle of cashew cream. Enjoy!
Taco leftovers but make it a veggie bowl and put an egg on it.
The leftovers: roasted sweet potatoes, garlicky kale, cashew cream
The newbies: beans confit, fermented red cabbage, shallow poached egg, scallions
