Crispy Quinoa Sweet Potato Tacos

Crispy Quinoa Sweet Potato Tacos are quick, healthful and full of flavor. What else could you ask for out of a veggie taco? Welcome to Taco Tuesday!

I consider myself pretty organized. And right now my husband is smirking and thinking otherwise. He likes to joke all too often about the color of my hair and how often I tend to lose things or forget something. It’s a tough pill to swallow but I have to say it might be true. Or least partially true. For the most part I have it together but with two young kids, a job, umpteen extracurricular activities and a husband who would rather be snowboarding than doing anything around the house, some things are bound to fall between the cracks. It’s tough to remember everything. Sheesh.

Case in point: last weekend we were trying to get out of town for a few days to one of our favorite ski resorts about an hour and a half away. We were crashing with friends and the kitchen in the condo is minimal at best. I needed to get a few recipes done for the following week and didn’t want to be worried about cooking/shooting in the condo. So last Saturday, I got up early and made a list of what I needed to do for the blog before we left town. My thought was I could make and photograph the recipes that morning and then edit photos and write the posts when I got there.

See- don’t I sound responsible? Ditzy blondes do not make lists. Let alone get everything done on said list.

I conquered that list like no ones business. Three recipes made and photographed for upcoming posts and somehow I managed to also clean up the kitchen, pack bags for myself and both the kids, load up the cooler and sneak in a load or two of laundry. Like I said, I HAVE IT TOGETHER. Fast forward two hours when I’m comfortably in the car, dreaming of night laps and white russians (my drink of choice when on vacation), when I realized that I didn’t download the photos from my camera to my computer.

ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME? DID I JUST BUST MY BUTT ALL MORNING AND NOW HAVE NOTHING TO SHOW FOR IT? (Enter graphic expletives.)

Seriously the story of my life.

After feeling totally deflated, I accepted that there was nothing I could do about it and did what any self respecting blonde who totally almost has her s%*t together would do. I poured a white russian and scoured the web for some really great slow cooker taco recipes to give you for last weeks post. I couldn’t help but spin this in my favor and look at the silver lining. Even though I totally botched sharing these last week they were more than ready to go this week. I love the feeling of being totally prepared. *cough*

Who’s smirking now, honey?

Crispy Quinoa Sweet Potato Tacos

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• Yield: 6-8 tacos 1x

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Description

Quinoa Sweet Potato Tacos make for a quick, healthful and satisfying veggie taco!

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Ingredients

• 1/2 cup organic quinoa
• 1 cup water
• pinch kosher salt
• 1 cup loosely packed, fresh cilantro
• 1/2 cup creme fraiche or sour cream
• juice of 1/2 lime (about 2 tablespoons)
• 1 clove fresh garlic
• pinch kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 1 medium sweet potato, peeled & cut into a 1/4-inch dice (about 3 cups)
• 1 small onion, thinly sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• fresh spinach
• corn tortillas

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Instructions

1. Start by cooking the quinoa: in a small sauce pan, add water, quinoa and salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and then turn down to low and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes until all water is absorbed and quinoa is cooked. Set aside until ready to serve.
2. To prepare the crema, place cilantro, creme fraiche or sour cream, lime juice, fresh garlic and pinch of kosher salt into a blender and pulse until fully blended and smooth; set aside until ready to serve.
3. In a large cast iron or other heavy bottomed skillet, heat coconut oil over medium heat. Add onions and sweet potato and sauté until soft about 20-25 minutes- the sweet potatoes take a long time! Add the cumin, chili powder, garlic powder and kosher salt. Cook 2 minutes more until the spices start to caramelize around the sweet potatoes.
4. Since a cast iron retains so much heat, I like to push the sweet potatoes and onions to the side and add the quinoa to the skillet so that it will dry out a little and crisp up.
5. To assemble tacos, heat tortillas up on either the grill or in a hot pan for 1-2 minutes each side. Put a healthy scoop of spinach in the middle followed by a few tablespoons of quinoa followed by a handful of sweet potatoes. Drizzle with Cilantro crema and serve.