The most delicious and clean tacos ever! Sweet Potato with Greens and Plantain Tortillas, Paleo, Vegan and Awesome

Today is Cinco de Mayo (yay!) it is also the middle of a strict springtime vegan-paleo goal for me. So what to do. I looooove Mexican foods, it will be one of my favorite cuisines ever and always. My eyes were first opened to mind blowing vegan Mexican food at Gracias Madre in SF. I was lucky to eat there many times, but it was a taco plate when I first fell in love. There were piles of cooked leafy greens, spiced sweet potatoes, and all the crunchy toppings. I think there were beans and loads of their wonderful freshly made tortillas. This today is my homage to them.  The tortilla making is easy as pie, but if you love corn tortillas-by all means use those!

Paleo Plantain Tortillas 
with
Chili Sweet Potato, Leafy Greens, and Avocado

Tortillas:
Makes about 14 tortillas (taco "corn-tortilla" sized)

• 4 green plantains
• 1/4 cup hot water (or more)

Leafy Greens:

• 1 bunch collards, swiss chard, or kale
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• salt

Sweet Potatoes:

• 4 sweet potatoes
• 1-2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1  teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• salt

Also: 

• Avocado
• Cabbage
• Raddishes
• Cilantro
• Salsa

For these tortillas I want a savory or neutral sort of flavor so we use the unripe or green plantains. Peeling them can be a little bit of a chore, here is a link to my earlier instructions how to do this quickly. The plantains need to be peeled and sliced into chunks before boiling for 20 minutes. You will see the raw plantain is a very pale yellow color, once it has cooked in the boiling water there's a much deeper yellow color to the flesh. 

When the plantains are fork tender drain into a colander in the sink. Wait 5 minutes so they cool a bit. Place plantains in the bowl of a standing mixer, mix on low for about 5-8 minutes. If you have the plastic guard that keeps things from jumping out the sides of the bowl now is the time to use it. If not you can hold a tea towel around the top of the bowl until pieces stop trying to jump out. 

At first it may seem very dry and crumbly, but there is a nice point when everything comes dough like. Depending on your plantains and how ripe and cooked they are this may take more time than you expect just keep the mixer on. If everything is looking very dry, which happens due to moisture escaping through the steam, add a splash of hot water until you have a consistency like cookie dough. 

With our plantain massa ready we can move onto shaping and cooking the tortillas:

You will need a tortilla press or two rigid cutting boards. Parchment paper folded in half or a plastic bag cut into two pieces.Some coconut oil or other oil of your choice. A hot griddle or frypan. 

1. Heat the griddle.
2. Apply a tiny bit of coconut oil to the inside spots of the full department where you will flatten the dough. 
3. Roll a ball of the dough in your hands.
4. Place in between the two sheets of parchment or plastic
5. Position this parchment sandwich in between your two cutting board or tortilla press. 
6. Press straight down, with all your bodyweight. 
7. Remove the top cutting board and check your tortilla. 
8. Peel off the parchment carefully, this is easier than you imagine.
9. Move the tortilla in hand directly to the griddle.
10. Cook on each side for about 5 minutes. They will look dry, pale, with not much color. The edges will turn out just a bit. 

Repeat until the dough is all used up! 

Cut a bunch of collards or Swiss chard into thin ribbons. Cook on the stove with two cloves of minced garlic, salt, a teaspoon of cumin, and a 1/2 cup of water. Simmer and sauté until the water has about braided and your greens are tender and bright. 

Cube your sweet potatoes into roughly half inch pieces. Toss to coat with olive oil  and 1 to 2 teaspoons of chili powder, 1 teaspoon of cumin and 1 teaspoon of garlic powder. Spread on a sheet pan in one layer. Bake roast at 350° for about 30 minutes, until they're tender. There is no need to stir the sweet potatoes while they are roasting see you can just forget about them until the timer beeps!

Clearly, tacos should be assembled right as you are going to eat them. Place a small bed of greens as a base on the tortilla, followed by sweet potatoes, then topped off with thin slices of avocado, radish, cabbage and cilantro. salsa or hot sauce is always a good idea in my book.

 Enjoy!
***The tortillas will keep for a few days in the fridge kept sealed up in a bag. Very good just microwaved for 20 seconds to warm them up again. Or even better, throw on a hot dry pan till warm.

The Brussels Sprouts Recipe Everyone Wants

I have had many requests for this recipe, from people who ate the brussels sprouts, ones who heard about it, and some who read by thanksgiving post.  December is here, and we all return to work, but know that the holiday season has really started, and wish we could make cookies and play with ribbon all day long. Or more to the point, as a British friend said yesterday, December is all about alcoholic fruit and booze and cake. I think she included cake on the list, the Brits would need something to absorb all the boozy fruit. (Note: upcoming post, I will figure out what British boozy fruit is.)

December is here and brussels sprouts are among the few things still in season. These are incredibly savory and briny. A welcome change to the palate. The dressing is incredibly different than our usual heavy holiday season flavors or spice and sweetness.

It went around and around out holiday table, so that is worth something. People were like, "please pass the brussels sprouts" and "where did those amazing brussels sprouts go?" and "oh YES! There are still some left!" (Read thanksgiving Part1 and Part2.)

Simple enough to make up part of an every day dinner. Be sure to make extra because you will want the leftovers!

Notes on anchovies: many people are scared of the poor little fish. (Like my husband, who thinks he doesn't like them, but when I put them in food and does not tell him, he loves it!) They are super salty and little mashed fish is...whatever they are delicious. If you don't like them much, buy the European type in a tube, it is a paste and so easy to work with in the kitchen. Unscrew the top, squeeze into a dressing, screw back on the top, and back into the fridge for very easy storage. Don't skip them, they really make this dish sing.


Savory Brussels Sprouts with Capers and Walnuts

ROASTING:
3 lbs brussels sprouts, quartered
1/4 cup olive oil
salt
1 cup walnuts

DRESSING:
2 garlic cloves
2 shallots
1/2 cup olive oil
1/8 cup red wine vinegar
1/8 cup cider vinegar
1 Tablespoon grainy mustard
2 Tablespoons honey
3 Tablespoons capers (rinsed if in salt)
1/2 - 1 Tablespoon anchovy paste (or one 2 oz tin, drained and minced)
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 425°. Quarter each brussels sprout into 4 wedges. Place on 2 baking sheets, toss with olive oil and salt. Roast in the oven for 20 to 40 minutes. (Sprouts and ovens vary so.) Stir or shake once midway. The sprouts should have some charred black spots and crispy bits. The insides will be tender. Remove from the oven and transfer into a large bowl.

Toast the walnuts, spread them in an oven proof pan, roast in the oven for  about 8 minutes. The walnuts will be a warm brown and smell toasty and fragrant.

Make the dressing. If you have a food processor, fit it with the chopping blade. Peel garlic and shallots, chop into bits in the food processor. (Or mince with a knife.) The entire dressing can be made in the food processor, or a mason jar with a tight fitting lid works very well. Add the vinegars, olive oil, mustard, honey, capers, pepper, and some or all of the anchovy paste. Blend or shake the dressing well. Taste the dressing on a brussels sprout, add additional salt only if needed.

Pour the dressing over the still warm brussels sprouts (they absorb more flavor this way.) Serve warm or at room temperature.  Keeps for 4 days in the fridge.

*Adapted from Food and Wine, Brussels Sprouts with Walnuts, Capers and Anchovies (2011).

Warming Sweet Potato, Cabbage and Black Bean Vegan Casserole

Aren't sweet potatoes the most pleasing things? Comforting, soft, warm, bland but not tasteless. And they come in different colors, I got orange ones and white ones with purple skins for this recipe. They look stunning in alternating rows. This recipe takes just a bit of roasting, and is so pretty presented on the table. I made a southwestern inspired casserole here, some chipotle, some wine, some beans. All the good stuff. 

Savoy cabbage waits next to a bowl of sliced sweet potatoes tossed in olive oil, salt, pepper, sage and mexican oregano. This way they are nicely coated with oil to brown up in the roasting of the casserole process.

One head of savoy cabbage is sliced up into roughly 1/2" - 1" wide pieces. Rustic is ok! White wine, olive oil, and a sprinkling of chipotle powder are added into the pan for flavor. Lets begin the roasting, 350°.



Look, after 15 minutes or so in my convection oven the cabbage is won over. Wilted into silky strips, with charred tips which say lots of flavor.



The sweet smokey cabbage is placed in the bottom of my most beloved baking pan. (Anthropologie makes the craziest dish-ware, I love it!)
What is a casserole anyway? Instead of describing the food, its comes from the French word for the pan itself, used in both the oven and serving of the food. Casserole meaning both the very cool cookware one receives as awesome wedding gifts, and of the vegetables layered inside of it. Clearly casseroles have an image problem in popular culture, but I have no problem with them. I think anything baked together is probably better than baked alone!



Spoon a layer of black bean on top of the cabbage. Next time I make this casserole I will experiment in putting the beans at the bottom and cabbage on top of them. I feel it would make the beans more succulent. You could try it either way. So, about beans, I made mine using a dried heirloom variety, soaking and then cooking in my pressure cooker for 20 minutes. You can use black beans or pinto beans out of a can, that is easy. Remember to rinse them.



Sprinkle some chipotle on top of the beans if you are in the mood. Next comes the very fun part. Craft time with food! Arrange the slices of sweet potato in scolloped rows, alternating by color.




Bake entire cassarole in a 350° oven for 30 - 45 minutes. Crisped sweet potatoes and warmed through.

The potatoes retain their color difference after roasting, although I lack a really good photo because the evening lighting in my house is lacking and it didn't look pretty the next day. We had devoured it and it was a mangled mess of leftovers. We will make do with this one until I make this again!  Or you make it and send me the photo perhaps?

It was really impressive looking. Dinner party or pot luck worthy. Even Thanksgiving perhaps? We ate it along with salad and mustard on top. It served about 6  portions that way. Next time Ill take better measurements in the kitchen, but honestly it was really good, just wing-it, you can't go wrong.

Warming Sweet Potato, Cabbage and Black Bean Vegan Casserole

4-6 sweet potatoes
1 savoy cabbage
1 1/2 cups cooked pinto or black beans
1 teaspoon dry sage
1 teaspoon Mexican oregano
olive oil
salt pepper
1/3 cup white wine
1 teaspoons chipotle powder