recipe

Nooch Encrusted Sweet Potato Tacos with Black Beans, Kale, and Avocado

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Once you start to eat nooch (nutritional yeast) you start to crave it like plants crave the sun. It starts small, maybe sprinkling some on your popcorn or adding it to your tofu scramble, and then the next thing you know, you are adding it to everything you eat. Somehow, I hadn’t tried it with roasted potatoes until I came across a post by Kristy Turner on Keepin’ it Kind for a Cheesy Sweet Potato & Chickpea Bowl with Lemon Tahini Sauce. I made the bowl and I loved it, but then I ended up making the sweet potatoes three more times that week! Here I paired them with black beans and kale for a perfect easy delicious weeknight taco.

Nooch Encrusted Sweet Potatoes
1 giant or 2 normal sweet potatoes
1 tablespoon cooking oil
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast

Preheat the oven to 425 and prepare a baking sheet with parchment or silpat. Peel and cube the sweet potatoes and put them in a pile on the baking sheet. Sprinkle on the oil and mix with your hands until the potatoes are mostly coated. Sprinkle the potatoes with the spices, salt, and 2 tablespoons of the nutritional yeast. Mix again with your hands and then sprinkle on the final tablespoon nooch and spread the potatoes out so they aren’t touching. Bake in the preheated oven about 10 minutes and then flip and bake another 10 minutes or until potatoes are softened and able to be pierced with a fork. Meanwhile, make the beans and get the garnishes ready.

Beans and Greens
1 teaspoon of cooking oil
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
Afew handfuls of greens like spinach, kale, or chard
1/4 cup white wine or broth.

Heat a cast iron skillet over high heat and add cooking oil. Swish it around and add the onions. Let them brown, turning every now and then, for about 5 minutes. Add the beans, greens, and white wine and stir until greens are wilted. Serve immediately.

For the Tacos
Corn or flour tortillas, heated
Asmall avocado, sliced
2 teaspoons of pepitas,
2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped (optional)
Juice from a small lime
2 teaspoons creamy chipotle sauce from the Taco Cleanse book or other hot sauce (optional)

Place a bit of the sweet potatoes on the tortilla followed by the beans, add the garnishes above or use whatever garnishes your body is calling for. Enjoy!

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How to Fancy Up your Guacamole

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In the Taco Cleanse book we have a very simple recipe for Guacamole that you put on tacos. But when you are serving this amazing avocado concoction as a dip alongside your tacos it’s fun to add a little something extra. Above I just scattered some toasted salted pepitas for some extra crunch but there are dozens of ways you can make your guacamole a little more fancy.

A restaurant here in Austin called La Condesa has a guacamole sampler and my favorite drizzles pomegranate molasses on the guac along with some pomegranate arils. It’s tasty and beautiful. They also do another version with chopped apples.

Another spot, a trailer called Guac and Roll has an ever- changing assortment of toppings one called Guac and Awe tops their dip with grape tomatoes, red onions, jalapenos, cilantro, crumbled plantain chips and dried edamame seeds. Another has shredded coconut, toasted macadamia nuts and currants.

Rick Bayless has a version with sundried tomatoes and he has another recipe where he recommends roasted garlic among other things.

Jason Wyrick’s cookbook, Vegan Tacos, has a recipe for Guacamole with roasted poblanos that you can find here on an An Unrefined Vegan.

Or there’s always peas.

Just remember, if you are having a party make more than you think you will need ’cause you can NEVER have too much guacamole.

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Jack White’s Guacamole

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Image via The Pop Jar

Image via The Pop Jar

Ever since Van Halen’s legendary ban on brown M&Ms, we have been fascinated by popular musicians’ tour rider requests. A rider is the comprehensive list of contractual obligations the tour manager must provide for a successful performance. These include technical and security provisions, but of most interest to us are the backstage food requests. Artists know that what they consume before a concert directly effects how much they will proverbially melt the audiences’ faces.

Jack White’s rider was released online in February preceding a concert at University of Oklahoma. The 20+ page list of demands includes a clearly defined guacamole recipe. The specificity of his instructions leads us to believe that Jack White has stumbled onto some initial benefits of the Taco Cleanse. Clearly, his energetic act couldn’t be undertaken without the higher vibrations provided by smashed avocados and lime juice. Imagine how his music would be elevated if he requested exclusively taco-based superfoods for his pre-show munchies.

We urge you so contact Jack White’s record label (@thirdmanrecords) and suggest that he and his labelmates include the Taco Cleanse on their tour riders in the future so they may rock out at a truly Fuego level. If you are unable to sneak backstage to try his signature dip, you can find the recipe below to enjoy in the comfort of your own home.

Jack White’s Guacamole Recipe:

  • 8 x large, ripe Haas avocados (cut in half the long way, remove the pit—SAVE THE PIT THOUGH—, and dice into large cubes with a butter knife. 3 or 4 slits down, 3 or 4 across. You’ll scoop out the chunks with a spoon, careful to maintain the avocado in fairly large chunks.)
  • 4 x vine-ripened tomatoes (diced)
  • 1/2 x yellow onion (finely chopped)
  • 1 x full bunch cilantro (chopped)
  • 4 x Serrano peppers (de-veined and chopped)
  • 1 x lime
  • Salt & pepper to taste
  • Mix all ingredients in a large bowl, careful not to mush the avocados too much. We want it chunky. Once properly mixed and tested, add the pits into the guacamole and even out the top with a spoon or spatula. Add 1/2 lime to the top later so you cover most of the surface with the juice (The pits and lime will keep it from browning prematurely.) Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until served. Please don’t make it too early before it’s served. We’d love to have it around 5 p.m.

JackWhiteGuac

You can view the full rider here: link

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