To make the Monday less of a drag I’ve decided to make it Taco Monday!
I think we can all agree that Tacos can turn any dreary day into a fun day in a split second.
It will most certainly ease us into the week gently and give us something great to look forward to when we come home from work. You could actually do all the prep work the day before on Sunday and make dinner time a breeze. Soaking the beans is what takes the longest, because the actual recipe is pretty simple, we want simple on Mondays, am I right? If it’s to much hassle for you to soak the beans and cook, just use two cans instead.
Either way, this is some seriously good food to start off the very first day of the week.
And who am I kidding really, we love Taco’s around here and we’ll have them more than once a week without a problem, different flavours and textures of course, and now that I think about it, it’s probably (one of ) our favourite foods.
So these are different, I have added Sweet Potato. and I can only tell you that I kept on asking myself why I hadn’t thought of this before. The sweet potato is just sooooo good with the smokey beans, I mean KA-POOOW!!

Prep time: 15 min.
Cooking time: 15 min. plus cooking beans
Serves : 4

INGREDIENTS:

SMOKEY BLACK SWEET POTATO TACOS
• 1 lb. dried black beans or adzuki beans
• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
• 2-3 cloves garlic minced or grated
• 2 onions
• 2 tbsp. Taco seasoning
• 2 tsp. liquid smoke
• 2 tsp. cocoa
• 1 tsp. hot sauce (optional for heat lovers)
• 1 12 oz. can passata
• 1/3 cup fresh cilantro chopped
• 3 green onions chopped
• Himalayan salt and pepper to taste

ONION GARLIC LIME CREMA
• 1/2 cup (vegan) cream cheese
• 1/2 cup (vegan) sour cream
• 2 tsp garlic powder*
• 1 tbsp. onion powder*
• 1 lime juiced
• salt and pepper taste
• maybe 1-2 tablespoons of milk or water
To serve:
• 12 corn tacos warmed
• Shredded Iceberg lettuce,
• avocado slices
• Grated cheese
• salsa of choice or check out this one.
• more chopped cilantro
* I’m using dried onion and garlic powder on purpose, do not sub for fresh garlic because it will not get the right consistency and flavour. The dried powder will  thicken the crema in a way that cannot be achieved with the fresh counterparts.

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Prepare the beans. Rinse and check beans for any dirt etc. Soak your beans over night.discard the soaking liquid after soaking.
2. Add beans to a large pot with about 5 cups of water. Bring the beans to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook until the beans are soft, but not quite done. About 45 to 60 minutes. Keep checking, not all beans cook the same. Drain.
3. Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add olive oil. Add onion and sweet potatoes and stir. Fry for a couple of minutes and add the garlic, stir.
4. Cover and cook for 10 minutes, until sweet potatoes are just beginning to softened.
5. While the sweet potatoes are cooking make the crema.
6. Place all the ingredients for the Onion Garlic Lime Crema in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Add a little water or milk to thin if you like. It will get thicker and thicker as you let it stand.
7. Now add the remaining ingredients to the sweet potatoes except the cilantro and spring onions.
8. Cover and cook another 10 minutes. Add a little water if it becomes to dry.
9. Just before serving add the cilantro and spring onions
10. To assemble, place generous spoonfuls of the sweet potato + bean mixture on top of a bed of Iceberg lettuce in a warm taco. Top with the onion garlic lime crema and avocado, and some cheese or any other topping of choice.

Enjoy!
Myra Xo