Food | Black Bean and Sweet Potato Tacos with Mango Salsa

So it's been a minute since I last wrote here. Some things have changed over in my little corner. I quit my second job as a sales associate at Anthropologie. It was a good little job, but I am really looking forward to having more balance in my life and discovering things that I enjoy doing (and actually doing them). My life has just been feeling a little off balance lately and I'm trying to scale back and eliminate the things that are good but not necessary. I also changed the name of the blog to a little duck. Why? because I am a little duck swimming in the large pond, or rather ocean, of life. And here will be the tales of this little duck and her dashing duck husband as they swim through and navigate the world around them.

And now, I share with you a delicious, easy, and healthy meal. Because we all gotta eat, so why not eat good things?

I adapted this recipe from Love and Lemons, a really wonderful food blog that I've become obsessed with recently. She cooks mostly vegetarian recipes that are quick and easy, which I love since we actually don't eat a ton of meat on a regular basis in our house. I doubled her recipe because we like to have leftovers as we're both pretty busy with work; it's nice to only have to cook a couple of times a week and have the food last you for two meals. I also added sweet potatoes to make it a little more hearty.

Black Bean and Sweet Potato Tacos with Mango Salsa

Serves: 6-8 tacos

Ingredients:

2 mangos, diced
1/4 - 1/2 cup raw or pickled red onion (see recipe below for pickled onions)
1/2 cup red bell pepper
Juice of 1 lime (I don't know if we put this much lime juice in because we didn't want our salsa too juicy and our mangos added quite a bit more liquid than expected)
A little olive oil
A handful of cilantro leaves, chopped
1 roasted jalapeño, chopped (be sure to wash your hands thoroughly and don't touch your eyes!)*
1-2 avocados (or however much avocado your soul calls for)
1 15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 small to medium sweet potatoes washed, peeled and chopped into bite sized pieces
About 1 tsp of chili powder
About 1/2 tsp cumin powder
Salt to taste
Optional: crumbled cotija or feta cheese
Optional: greek yogurt with lime and salt

Instructions:

1. In a medium bowl, stir together diced mangos, red onion, bell pepper, lime juice, olive oil, cilantro, roasted jalapeño, and avocado. Add a few pinches of salt to your taste. Set aside and chill until ready to use.
2. Heat a large skillet on medium high with some olive oil. Once the oil is hot add the sweet potatoes. Add the spices. Allow the potatoes to sizzle and char for about 5 minutes. Put the lid on the skillet for about 5 minutes until the potatoes are soft but not mushy. Add the black beans and stir together. Keep the heat on for another 10 minutes or so until the beans are hot and the potatoes get a good char.
3. In a separate skillet toast your tortillas.
4. Fill tortillas and add cheese and yogurt if you desire.

Notes:

*For the roasted jalapeño, put on a small baking sheet lined with foil and broil them with the oven rack placed high against the heat. Broil the pepper until the skin is blackened and blistered. You may have to turn a few times to get an even blister across. Or, if you have a gas range and metal tongs, you can just rotate the pepper above the flames.

Quick-Pickled Red Onion

1/4 cup vinegar (both red wine and white work fine)
1/4 cup cold water
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 red onion, diced

Stir together vinegar, water, salt, and sugar in a small bowl until the salt and sugar have dissolved. Add the onion and set aside. I usually let mine sit for 10 minutes. A quick pickle like this helps sweeten the onion and soften the blow of biting into raw onion. These keep in your fridge for about a week and honestly get more delicious as they pickle.