Sweet Potato and Spring green Taco, Tomato and Red Onion Salsa, Yogurt
Prep time: 30 minutes / Cooking time: 1 minutes
Serves 4.
Tacos are a traditional Mexican dish, consisting of a small hand sized wheat tortilla that is topped with a filling. There are 2 types of tacos, soft shell (like the ones in this recipe) and hard shell. The hard shell tacos are the ones you are most likely to find in the shop and although yummy, can sometimes be challenging to eat because they break easily.
This recipe takes time and it cannot be made in a hurry. Make this recipe a family activity. This is a great recipe to get children involved, they will love getting their hands dirty making the taco dough and rolling them out. Store bought tacos tend to be pricey and here you will learn how to make them at a fraction of the cost. You can add any filling that your family will like. Even though this recipe is vegetarian, feel free to use some left over meats that you may have lying around the fridge. When serving them, make it an interactive activity by laying all the finished components on the table or kitchen counter in different bowls or plates, and then encourage everyone to build their own tacos. Getting the children to participate in making meals is one of the best ways to encourage them to try new things.
INGREDIENTS:
500g Sweet potatoes
1 Tsp Cumin
1 Spring greens
Salsa
4 Tomatoes, diced
1 Red onion, finely diced
Juice of ½ lime
Taco wraps
250g Plain flour
150ml Water
1 Tbsp. oil
(An extra 5-6 tbsps. of oil for greasing)
To serve
150g yogurt
Salt & pepper to taste
METHOD:
1. Set the oven to 200°C.
2. Start by making the tomato salsa: Dice the tomato (see tips below) and red onion place in a small serving bowl with the juice of half a lime, along with a pinch of salt. Give it a good mix and keep in the fridge for later.
3. Prepare your spring greens: Cut off the hard end and unpick the leaves, wash in a colander to remove any mud or grit. Cut out the hard middle piece from each leaf, and then cut the leaves into thin strips. Keep aside.
4. Make the taco dough: Simply combine all of the ingredients in a large mixing bowl (flour, water and oil), begin by mixing it with a fork and when it starts to come together keep on mixing with your hands until you have a smooth dough with no lumps. Now the dough needs to be kneaded to make it stretchier. Add a little bit of flour to your work top and put the dough on it. Kneading is simply done by hand squishing and re shaping the dough against the work top into a round shape. Knead for round 5 – 6 minutes; the dough should now be slightly more stretchable than before. Set the dough aside to rest for 10 minutes.
5. While the dough is resting peel and cut the sweet potato into chip shapes. This is easiest to achieve if you cut down the sweet potato, to create finger thickness rounds. Then cut each rounds into finger thickness strips. Place the sweet potato chips into a bowl with 1 tbsp of oil, the cumin and a pinch of salt. Mix nicely to coat all of the sweet potato pieces. Then place the sweet potato chips on a large greased oven tray so they are flat and not overcrowded. Roast for 15-20 minutes or until the potato is soft and golden brown in colour. Note: the thicker you make the chips the longer they will take to cook.
6. To make the tacos: divide the dough into 12 even balls. Roll each of the balls out with a rolling pin into round discs (10-15 centimetres or slightly smaller than the size of a small plate). Place each disc onto a large greased oven tray, do not overcrowd the tray (depending on the size of your tray you can cook them in 2 or 3 batches). Brush the top of the rolled out discs with oil (use a pastry brush or otherwise your fingers). Bake the bread discs for 4-5 minutes in the oven, then place onto a plate and cover with a clean tea towel. Continue to bake them in batches until all have been cooked and placed under a clean tea towel to keep them warm.
7. Meanwhile cook the spring greens: Place a saucepan on a medium heat with 1 tbsp of oil. Add the spring green to the saucepan, add a lid if you have it or just continuously mix the greens until they wilt. Cooking this will take approximately 5 minutes. Season with a pinch of salt & pepper. Put the greens into a serving bowl ready to serve.
8. Put the natural yogurt into a small serving bowl.
9. By now the sweet potatoes should be cooked too, place on another plate/ serving bowl.
10. The next stage is to put all of the serving bowls/ plates with all the ingredients to make the tacos on your table or kitchen counter (tacos, roast sweet potatoes, spring greens, tomato & red onion salsa, yoghurt). Let everyone be interactive by building their own tacos, especially lovely and encouraging for children.
TIPS:
This recipe takes time but you could choose to prepare things ahead of time. Make your sweet potato chips ahead and prepare your spring greens, so all you have left to do is cooking them. You can prepare the tomato salsa ahead too, as it will keep well in the fridge for a couple of days.
The taco wraps can be kept warm under a clean tea towel if desired.
If you do not have a rolling pin, roll the tacos out using a sturdy roll of cling film.
You can choose to make the tacos larger if desired, but 10 to 15cm works best for hand size tacos.
Make this recipe vegan by choosing a plant based yoghurt instead.
If you have any fresh herbs available, fresh coriander would made a great addition to the tomato salsa.
If you like citrus flavours, you can additionally zest the lime before juicing, do that by using a zester or alternatively the fine side of a box grater.
Additional spices can be added to the sweet potato before roasting, a touch of smoked paprika and chilli powder or cayenne works a treat.
Best way to dice the tomato: the tomatoes are easiest to dice if you thickly slice the whole tomatoes, then cut each slice into small squares.
There are no set rules when it comes to making a taco, hard shells, soft wraps …….. It’s just down to personal choice.
These work perfectly with the addition of shredded chicken, pork, beef or duck for meat eaters (perfect for using left overs) .For vegetarians, the addition of slow cooked jackfruit with bbq sauce, is a wonderful extra.
Avocado is also an obvious additional choice when it comes to Mexican inspired food.
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION:
Sweet potatoes even though called potatoes they come from a different family than white potatoes, called ‘morning glory’. They are native to South America but nowadays they are so used worldwide that they have become one of the most important crops in the world. They are a great source of fibre and they are also high in the antioxidant beta-carotene, which is converted to vitamin A when consumed. Most varieties of sweet potatoes get sweeter when cooking and the slower the cooking the sweeter they will get, so choosing to bake the sweet potatoes instead of microwaving them or boiling them, will make them sweeter.
Tomato – One tomato can contain 40% of our daily recommended intake of vitamin C!
Onions – these are members of the nightshade family which are anti-inflammatory and have been shown to reduce levels of cholesterol in our bodies, helping with high blood pressure and protecting against disease.
Spring greens are young tender cabbage plants. They are a good source of vitamin C that helps support your immune system, as well as vitamin K, that helps keeping bones strong.
Yoghurt is rich in very important nutrients like calcium that helps us keep healthy bones & teeth and B vitamins that may protect against heat disease. It is also a good source of protein. If watching your calorie intake, always best to choose low fat varieties. The types of yoghurt containing live bacteria or probiotics may help boost digestive health and also reduce digestive problems like bloating.
