I decided to experiment with making vegan tacos and oh boy am I glad that i did! I completely fell in love with this recipe. It takes a little more effort to make the tortillas yourself but the deliciousness of home made tortillas really makes it worth the extra 10 mins of cooking.

This is one of those recipes you can use to impress a date, spoil a friend (or yourself) or convince someone that plant based diets are the best!

Heres how it's done:

Prep time: 10-15 mins

Cooking time: 30-40 mins.

Ingredients:

For tortillas

1 1/2 cups quinoa flour

1/2 cup besan (aka garbanzo or chickpea) flour

Extra flour for rolling

1/2 to 2/3 cup water

2 teaspoons olive oil

Pinch salt

For taco filling

1 1/2 cups sweet potato, diced into small pieces

1 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

1/2 spanish (red) onion, finely diced

1/2 cup green bell pepper (capsicum) diced

1 clove garlic, crushed or finely chopped

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 teaspoon unrefined sugar

1/2 teaspoon cumin powder

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

Dash of cayenne pepper (adjust based on level of spice desired)

Salt & pepper

Olive oil

1/3 cup water

3-4 tablespoons cashew parmesan

1/2 cup Avocado, Lime & Cilantro Créma

3-4 tablespoons toasted sunflower seeds

Cilantro leaves to garnish

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

2) Place diced sweet potato onto a tray & drizzle with approximately 3 teaspoons of olive oil. Sprinkle over thyme and season with salt & pepper. Place into preheated oven and bake for 20-30 mins until cooked through (time will vary based on size- I made my chunks small and it took 20 mins).

3) While sweet potato is roasting, heat 2 teaspoons of oil in a frying pan and add the diced green bell pepper and onion. Sauté for 2-3 minutes until onion starts to brown. Add chopped garlic and sauté for a further minute until garlic becomes aromatic. Add in 1/3 cup water and the tomato paste and stir to combine. Add in the black beans, cumin, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper and sugar. Season with salt to taste. Let it cook for a further minute while stirring and then remove from heat.

4) To make tortillas: Add the flours, a pinch of salt and olive oil to a bowl. Slowly add in water while mixing. Stop adding the water as soon as mixture has reached the texture of dough. Divide dough into smaller, even sized balls (makes about 8, depending on the size you make your tortilla). Place the ball of dough onto a well floured surface and roll out into a round thin tortilla.

Note# as the flours are gluten free the dough does not stick together as well as gluten based flours. Roll carefully and be sure to be generous with the flour on the bench & the rolling pin. I use regular wheat flour for this step as it helps keep it together, however if you need gluten free then use a gluten free flour to roll as it will still work).

5) Heat a pan to medium-high and add a drizzle of olive oil. Place tortilla onto the pan and fry for 1-2 minutes until golden brown on one side. While it is frying, add a drizzle of olive oil to the top side. Flip over and cook for a further 1-2 minutes until golden brown. (You do not have to use oil for this step however I like the extra taste kick of the oil).

6) Evenly divide the black bean mixture amongst the cooked tortillas and then top with the sweet potato. Add on the créma and then sprinkle over the parmesan cheese and toasted sunflower seeds. Garnish with cilantro leaves and serve!

There you have it- the deliciousness of a vegan taco! Enjoy!