Yes it might looking like the coming of the apocalypse outside but we're supposedly in for a scorcher of a summer so use today as an opportunity to practise making these tacos which'll totally win picnic season.
Instead of bottom-shelf buns and yet another year of shredded iceberg, I've been ushering in the winds of street food change with mini tacos and homemade salsa to go alongside the obligatory burgers and sausages. Any vegetarians or vegans will appreciate the extra effort, as these sweet potato and black bean mini tacos can be eaten alone without any meat juices in sight. What’s more, you can make the mole poblano sauce way beforehand so it's just a nice warming temperature when everything else is ready to go. And, as it's traditionally served with chicken, it'll go down well with the traditionalists too.
The mole sauce is rich and super filling, and you'll only need two or three of these per person, so add sliced avocado, radishes, salsa, and a few tequila slammers, and welcome in this spring festival in true pagan style, (by setting fire to things and drinking a lot, essentially).
Here's the recipe. It makes around 10 mini tacos FYI
Ingredients
For the mole poblano sauce
3-4 sweet chilli peppers, or if you can find them, dried Ancho or Poblano chillies
400ml chopped tomatoes
1 onion, quartered
4 cloves garlic
1 tsp salt
1 pinch black pepper
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp chipotle seasoning (if you can't find this, use extra paprika to taste and another chilli if you like things spicy)
2 tbsp raisins
1 tsp paprika
1 tbsp cumin
2 tbsp almonds
1 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cloves
50g dark chocolate
2 tbsp tomato puree
1 handful fresh coriander
For the sweet potato and black bean filling
4 tsbp olive oil
1 tsp chilli flakes
Salt and pepper
2 large sweet potatoes, cut into bitesize pieces
1 onion, chopped small
400g black beans (drained if tinned)
Extras
Tortillas- use corn if this needs to be gluten free, otherwise flour tortillas work really well. If you can't find mini ones, just use a large cookie cutter or cereal bowl to cut around the tortilla- and save back the extra pieces for toasting on salads or dipping in salsa.
Sliced avocado, spring onion, homemade salsa, radishes, salad leaves or sweetcorn.
Start with the mole poblano sauce as this will develop over time and will only get better the longer you leave it to cook. If using fresh chillies, slice off the stems and de-seed, or if using dried, simply tear into pieces. Add everything apart from the chocolate, tomato puree and fresh coriander into a food processor, and blend until it's a smooth, fragrant paste. If you're using a hand blender, chop the fresh produce up first, then blend in with everything in a large bowl.
Now transfer to a large saucepan and heat on a low temperature, stirring in the pieces of dark chocolate until they've melted. The sauce will burn a lot more easily once the chocolate is added, so keep an eye on this as it simmers away for the next 20 minutes, and stir regularly so it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan. Once the sauce has reduced, add in the tomato puree and fresh coriander and taste. It may need a bit more salt or tomato, so season as needed. Add a little more water if it's thickened up too much, and heat for another five minutes so all the flavours can combine. Then turn off the heat and set aside until needed.
To make the sweet potato and black bean filling, preheat the oven to 220°C. Mix 3 tbsp of the olive oil, chilli flakes, salt and pepper together in an oven-proof tray, and then add in the sweet potatoes. Bake for half an hour until the potatoes are totally cooked and beginning to crisp at the edges.
Heat the remaining 1 tbsp of olive oil in a pan with the chopped onion, and gently fry until it's translucent. Add the black beans, a pinch of salt and pepper, and around 50ml of water, and heat for about 20 minutes, until the water has reduced to a sauce and the beans are totally cooked.
To assemble, layer salad leaves, black beans and sweet potatoes on a mini tortilla, then a few spoonfuls of the mole sauce, then top off with some spring onion, avocado or salsa.
Ava tweets at @guacandroll and blogs at ShakeGuacAndRoll.com
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.