Tag: Tacos

Sweet Potato Tacos

On By lukephillaryhIn Hillary's DishesLeave a comment
Sweet potato and black bean tacos
Weekday deliciousness

I’ve been making this meal since college. It’s inexpensive, healthy, easy, and quite tasty. And with the sweet potato’s recent growth in popularity (in 2015, farmers produced more sweet potatoes than in any year since World War II) this recipe turns out to be in vogue as well! For Luke and I, sweet potato tacos are a reliable weekday meal. We often neglect this recipe, as it’s almost too basic. But, when we made it recently and spruced up our tacos with a couple extra fixings we looked at our plates and both said, “Damn! These tacos are kinda good looking!” Like, cover of a magazine good looking. We decided they’re worth sharing. This recipe is somewhat of an original, though the black beans are a riff on a Goya recipe, courtesy of the back of the can. Shout out to Goya Foods!

Ingredients:

  • 2-4 sweet potatoes (depending on size), cut into 1-inch pieces
  • olive oil
  • salt & pepper, to taste
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 1 can black beans
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 jalapeno finely chopped (optional)
  • 1 TBS red wine vinegar
  • 1 1/2 tsp oregano
  • 1/4-1/2 cup water
  • 8-10 soft tortillas
  • cilantro, finely chopped (for topping)
  • feta cheese, crumbled (for topping)

Directions:

  1. Begin by roasting the sweet potatoes. Preheat oven to 425°F. In a bowl, mix the sweet potatoes with 1-2 TBS olive oil, cumin, chili powder, and 1 tsp salt and pepper. Move sweet potatoes to a large baking sheet and spread evenly. It’s best if each sweet potato has some breathing room. You don’t want them overlapping! Roast for 30-35 minutes, making sure to check halfway through. Give em a shake so they get a little brown on all sides.
  2. While sweet potatoes are roasting, make the beans. Heat 1-2 TBS olive oil over medium-high heat in a medium saucepan. Add onions, bell pepper, and jalapeno. Cook for about 6 minutes, or until onions are translucent and peppers are soft. Add garlic and cook 1-2 minutes more. Pour in the beans, with their juices. Fill the can with water a little less than halfway. Stir water around to make sure all the contents of the can are loose and pour into saucepan.  Add red wine vinegar, oregano, and 1 tsp salt. Bring beans to a boil and then simmer uncovered. Simmer for 15-2o minutes, or until sauce has thickened.
  3. When sweet potatoes are finished, mash slightly on the sheet. You want them to be a little chunky.
  4. While everything is finishing up, we advising warming up your tortillas. Either for 1 minute in the microwave, or a little nicer, individually in a skillet (this will give them a bit of charring).
  5. Assemble your tacos to your liking! We start with a base of sweet potatoes, a scoop of beans, a few drops of Valentina Salsa Picante, some freshly chopped cilantro, and a scattering of feta cheese.

Details: Serves 2-4. You’ll have plenty of beans, so roast more sweet potatoes if you’re trying to feed a few more mouths!

Adobo Chicken Tacos

On By lukephillaryhIn Ode to NYTLeave a comment
Chicken adobo tacos New York Times food recipe
Taco with all  the fixings

Cinco de Mayo came a little early for Luke and I this year. Up until recently (currently, the NY forecast is rain rain rain), spring had been treating us very well. For two weekends in a row we enjoyed clear skies and 70 degrees weather -ahhhmazing! When the weather is nice, I drink margaritas (and Luke by default). Always on the rocks, with salt. And nothing goes better with margs than tacos. So last Saturday night for dinner, we made these simple and delicious chicken tacos. The chiles in adobo are critical – their amazing smoky, spicy flavor makes the meal. It took a little bit of searching the supermarket aisles to find them, but besides that it was smooth sailing! Enjoy these tacos for Cinco de Mayo and all summer long.

Ingredients:

  • 4 bone-in chicken thighs
  • 3 scallions, left whole
  • 1 thyme branch
  • 5 black peppercorns
  • 3 allspice berry
  • 2 cloves
  • salt
  • 3 TBS olive oil
  • 1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 2-4 chipotle chiles in adobo, chopped
  • 3 TBS adobo sauce, from the can
  • 1/2 cup broth (use broth from simmered chicken)
  • corn tortillas

Onion, thinly sliced radishes, avocado, queso fresco or feta cheese, cilantro – all excellent garnishing options!

Directions:

  1. Put chicken thighs in a saucepan and cover with 3 cups water. Add scallions, thyme, peppercorns, allspice, cloves, and 1/2 tsp salt. Simmer for 30 minutes, then remove chicken and let cool. Shred chicken with your fingers or with a fork, discarding the skin and bones. Strain broth and reserve.
  2. Put olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the diced onion, season with salt, and cook until softened and a bit browned, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cumin and cook for 1 minute more. Add chopped chipotle chile and adobo sauce and stir to combine. Add shredded chicken, salt lightly and stir to coat in sauce. Add chicken broth and simmer for 2-3 minutes, until the sauce has thickened a bit.
  3. Heat the tortillas however you like, we find that cooking them in a dry skillet, about 1 minute on each side, works well.
  4. Build your tacos while the chicken is still warm! Garnish however you like. This time, we chose avocado (nicely balances the spice), feta, cilantro, radishes, and a spritz of lime.

Details: Makes 4 servings, about 2 tacos per person.