Hailing from Los Angeles's popular Guerrilla Tacos, these creative Sweet Potato Tacos pack tons of flavor into each vegetarian bite. Sweet potatoes are boiled, then seared in butter, topped with homemade almond salsa, salty feta, and crunchy corn nuts. What a delicious hand-held delight for your next Taco Tuesday!
1 ½poundssweet potatoesskins on (Japanese sweet potatoes are best, the long and thin kind with the red skin)
Kosher salt
Almond Salsa:
1tablespoonlard or canola oil
½cuploose-packed dried chiles de árbolstemmed and roughly torn (knock out some of the seeds to make the spice level more family-friendly)
6garlic clovespeeled
3tablespoonsslivered or sliced almonds
1poundtomatilloshusked and rinsed
1cuprough-chopped store-bought roasted red bell peppers
½cupwater
Kosher salt
3tablespoonsextra-virgin olive oil
2teaspoonsred wine vinegar
To Finish:
2tablespoonsunsalted butterplus more as needed
3thyme sprigs
10corn tortillaswarmed
4ouncesfeta cheesecrumbled (Valbreso if you can find it)
4tablespoonscorn nuts
1bunch of scallionsgreen parts only, sliced about ⅛ inch thick
Instructions
In a large saucepan or 6-quart stockpot, combine sweet potatoes and enough cold water to cover. Add salt until it’s as salty as the sea. Set over high heat and bring to a boil. Lower heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Cook 12 minutes or until potatoes are just cooked—you can stick a knife into one and it comes out clean. Drain and set potatoes aside. When they’re cool enough to handle, slice them into ½-inch coins or bite-size pieces and set aside.
To make the almond salsa: While potatoes simmer, warm a cast-iron skillet over medium-low heat. When pan is hot, add lard. Once lard is melted, add chiles de árbol. When chiles are browned all over and smelling toasty, add garlic and almonds; cook 30 seconds. When garlic is slightly golden brown, add tomatillos, roasted peppers, water and 1 teaspoon salt to pan.
Cover and cook until the tomatillos are mushy, about 8 to 12 minutes—they should split easily and break apart when you push them with a spoon.
Remove skillet from heat and, using a slotted spoon, transfer solid ingredients to a blender, reserving cooking liquid in pan. Add olive oil and red wine vinegar to blender. (Cover the blender well and watch out you don’t touch the hot chile seeds during this part.) Blend until salsa is smooth, and season with salt. You want a little acidity, plus sweetness from the roasted peppers and heat from the chiles de árbol. Add some of the leftover cooking liquid to reach your desired consistency. It should be almost as thick as a milk shake. You’ll have about 3 cups of salsa, more than you’ll need for these tacos. The salsa will keep in the refrigerator for a couple weeks, or can be frozen for a few months.
Put your largest cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat and warm butter until it’s melted and bubbling but not burning. Add a layer of potatoes to the pan—you want both sides of each potato slice to get a little browned, but not tough or crispy. Add some of the thyme and cook the potatoes until golden brown, about 5 to 10 minutes. Flip them and brown the other side. Set the browned potatoes aside on a plate and cover with foil to keep them warm. Repeat until all the sweet potatoes are browned, using more butter as needed.
Top each tortilla with 3 to 4 slices potato and 1 tablespoon salsa, 1 tablespoon feta, ½ tablespoon corn nuts, and a sprinkle of scallions. Serve immediately.
Notes
The original recipe calls for 3 pounds of sweet potatoes which is way more than you need–I recommend using about half that amount to comfortably make about 10 tacos, give or take.