Sweet potato tacos was the first vegan recipe I tested on my unwitting parents. Both want to lose weight, eat less red meat, and reduce the household carbon footprints. I went vegan while away at school because, well, I don’t trust eggs. And milk freaks me out. And all my favorite foods never had moms or faces to begin with. Take that, beef industry! Rage against the man, man.

Anyway, I’m white as the cream cheese shmear on a cinnamon raisin bagel from the local Jewish deli, so Cinco de Mayo was a half-hearted excuse to make “Mexican” food in mi casa. My taco experience never deviated from ground beef sprinkled with the packaged El Paso taco seasoning, shredded lettuce, Chi-chi’s salsa, refried beans, and maybe a dollop of Daisy. At least two of those things are no bueno for a vegan, so here’s where creativity and experimentation come to the rescue!

Want the recipe with no spiel? Click here!

For the filling

A medium sweet potato, cubed to the best of your ability

Half a red onion, roughly minced

Chili powder, salt, pepper to taste

For the other bits

Two medium-small red bell peppers

An avocado

A small lime

Can o’ corn

Vegan tortillas (I used the half-flour, half-corn variety from Trader Joe’s because he’s such a trustworthy guy. Always has my back.)

Jalapeños if you love ’em (I do, I do.)

Cooking

Preheat your fire box to 400 degrees. Fahrenheit, because do they use the metric system in Mexico? Who knows? On a baking sheet, lined with only the finest of tin foils because Sloth is your vice, spread your diced potatoes and onion out in your best approximation of “a single layer.” Spritz em with some olive oil, salt, pepper, and chili powder. Mix, toss, amalgamate to spread the seasoning around. Pop in oven for 20 minutes or until potatoes are “fork tender.” Whatever that means.

Meanwhile, stick your bell peppers directly above the flame of one of your stove burners. You’re a gosh-darned master chef and you will char those peppers to perfection.

Meanwhile, heat corn in skillet or sauce pan, add a dash or chili powder, and a small squeeze of lime.

Meanwhile, slice up your ‘cado. Dice up those slices. Squeeze lime on top of that.

Meanwhile, toast your tortillas! I did mine over direct flame because I was already so far in the zone. Crispy!

Serving

Put a scoops of sweet potato mix in each tortilla, a scoop of corn, a dollop of avocado, and a slice of that nice pepper. Say “dinner estas serve-itos” because you don’t speak a lick of Spanish, but you did stop a French invasion.

Prep: 5 minutes

Cooking: 20 minutes

Serves: However many tortillas came in the bag (8)

Ideas for next time: Actual guacamole and not just avocado mush. I’m curious what zucchini tacos could do. I turned the leftover sweet potato mix into an egg scramble for my mother the next morning, with a little corn on a toasted tortilla to replace standard toast.