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BRUSSELS SPROUT SWEET POTATO TACOS

I had some leftover shaved Brussel sprouts in my fridge from making my favorite Brussels sprout salad. This week, I made this salad without the roasted chickpeas and put it on top of soccas (chickpea crepes). Highly recommend – seriously delicious. I got the idea for Brussel sprout tacos from picking up my daughter at her friend’s house. The house smelled delectable. What was cooking? Brussels sprout tacos! I knew I had to come up with my own version.

Shaved Brussels Sprouts

Here I combine crispy Brussels sprouts with purple sweet potatoes, leeks and garlic making an amazing combination for a taco filling. As the weather gets colder, the more I turn towards sweet potatoes in my cooking (and eating). They have a grounding quality, while at the same time, satisfies my cravings for something sweet. While sweet in flavor, they actually help stabilize blood sugar levels and improve insulin production efficiency. Another misnomer, sweet potatoes are actually not related to potatoes! There are over 300 varieties, but I tend to like the orange and purple flesh types. As indicated by their color, they are super high in antioxidants, specifically carotenoids, and considered one of the most nutrient dense vegetables. Sweet potatoes are particularly high in Vitamins A and C. Much of the nutrients are found in the skin, so look for organic and scrub the skin well before cooking!

Sweet Potatoes & Leeks

The roasted red pepper lime sauce is what really made these tacos special. It was inspired by my stay at Rancho La Puerta this spring. Every morning, I was greeted with a spread of the most delicious and healthy breakfast foods, including many Mexican options. The sauces were to die for. This is a vegan version of a roasted red pepper lime sauce using a Chipotle Veganaise (vegan mayo). If you can’t find Chipotle Fabanaise in your store, you can always make your own by combining Veganaise with a chipotle pepper chopped finely.

Roasted Red Pepper

I had 1/2 a tomato left from my lunch salad, so I made a quick and easy fresh salsa to top everything off! My onion drawer was empty, but you can always add diced red or white onion to your salsa as well! In my opinion, fresh salsa introduces a freshness and lightness to any dish. In this case, it helped balance out the energetics of the food with Brussels sprouts and sweet potatoes being so grounding on a very snowy day (!!!) in November!

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Brussels Sprout Sweet Potato Tacos

These tacos were seriously delicious and helped me use up some extra shaved Brussels sprouts in my fridge. I love to shave my own Brussel sprouts, roast my own peppers and make tortillas from scratch. I get that not everyone has time for that, so I've included store-bought suggestions too!

Servings 4

Ingredients

  • 1/2 lb Brussels sprouts sliced thinly (or buy shaved Brussels sprouts)
  • 2 medium sweet potatoes cut into 1/4-inch cubes
  • 1 medium leek sliced thinly
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 2 Tbsp avocado oil divided
  • 8 homemade cassava tortillas (or buy your favorite tortillas)
  • 1 lime cut into wedges
  • 1 avocado cut into cubes

roasted red pepper lime sauce

  • 1 medium red bell pepper (or buy roasted red peppers)
  • 1/2 lime juiced
  • 2 Tbsp Chipotle Fabanaise (Sir Kensington brand)

quick salsa

  • 1 tomato diced
  • 2 Tbsp cilantro chopped
  • 1/2 lime juiced
  • 1/4 - 1/2 jalapeno seeded and minced finely
  • sea salt to taste

Instructions

taco filling

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

  2. In a cast iron pan, heat 1 Tbsp avocado oil over medium heat. Add Brussels sprout slices and a dash of sea salt. Allow to cook until browned, stirring only occasionally. Set Brussels sprouts aside.

  3. In the same pan, heat 1 Tbsp avocado oil over medium heat. Add sweet potatoes and a dash of sea salt. Allow to cook undisturbed for about 3 minutes. Stir in leeks and garlic and cook for another 5 minutes. Add about 1/4 cup water.

  4. Put cast iron pan with sweet potatoes mixture in oven. Roast for another 10 minutes. When finished cooking, stir in cooked Brussels sprout slices. Set aside.

roasted red pepper lime sauce

  1. Wash red bell pepper well. Put whole red bell pepper on top of gas oven flame. Allow to cook and blister. Using tongs, rotate bell pepper so that entire skin blisters. Put red bell pepper in a brown bag to steam as it cools.

  2. Once cool enough to handle, rub off red bell pepper skin. Slice pepper, discarding seeds, stem and pith.

  3. Combine roasted red pepper slices, lime juice and Chipotle Fabanaise. I put all these ingredients in a mason jar and used an immersion blender for easy clean up. If you don't own an immersion blender, you can use a regular blender. Blend until smooth.

quick salsa

  1. Combine tomato, cilantro, lime juice, jalapeno and sea salt. Stir well and allow to sit for a few minutes for flavors to combine.

assembling

  1. On each tortilla, put Brussels sprout sweet potato mixture. Top with avocado, roasted red pepper lime sauce, salsa and a squeeze of lime.

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