Back In The Kitchen and Loving It

As I posted yesterday, I’ve started off the New Year by collecting new recipes, heading out the grocery store to collect ingredients and with a focus on resetting my system to not feel the need to constantly consume sugar. So far things are going well with my sugar addition and I haven’t been rocking back and forth in a corner crying out for a cookie. I honestly believe that going back to clean eating and being aware of what I put into my body is making this process a lot easier.

The past 3 days I’ve been busy in the kitchen and I couldn’t be happier. The kitchen is truly my happy place, when I know what I want to do and I’m feeling inspired, which is the complete opposite of what I was feeling in there during the holidays (unless I was baking cookies, which is where the issues started, so I digress).

I have a major love for tacos and for sweet potatoes, so when I stumbled upon a recipe that included both, I knew I had to make it. This is also when I realized I’m running very low on spices in my pantry so if Mother Nature cooperates today, I’ll be going out to restock.

Taco Smash
Recipe from PaleoGirlKitchen.com
Serves 4

I apologize for my lack of professional photography with my food photos. I promise to work on it this year.

Smash
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 carrot, peeled and cubed
1 small turnip, peeled and cubed
sea salt & pepper, to taste

Taco Meat
1 lb ground beef (grass fed is possible)
1 ½  tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper (adjust to fit you taste)

Toppings
2 small avocados, sliced
1 roma tomato, diced or cherry tomatoes
¼ cup cilantro, minced (if you don’t like cilantro use any lettuce or green you prefer)
⅓ cup white onion, diced
Your favorite hot sauce

Directions
1. Place sweet potato, carrots and turnip in a pot and cover with water. Bring the water to a boil, and cook for 20 minutes. Drain the mixture. Place them back in the pot or in a large bowl,  add the sea salt, and pepper. Mash them together.

2. In a medium frying pan over medium-high heat, brown the beef, breaking it up into crumbles. Mix in the chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, and red pepper as the meat is browning. (If your meat is not lean, you may need to drain off some of the extra fat BEFORE adding your spices)

3. To assemble: put a scoop of smash on a plate. Top with ¼ of the meat mixture. Sprinkle with the toppings!

This recipe was quick and delicious! I was leery at first because I’ve never eaten, let alone cooked with turnips, but I really enjoyed the flavor of this smash. It had a nice sweet flavor to it which really balanced out the meat topping and all of the hot sauce that I like to use. I topped mine with some cherry tomatoes, avocado, hot sauce and a squeeze of lime. I also toasted a white corn tortilla (which gluten-free but not paleo) on the stove to go with it, but I honestly didn’t even need it. I think I prepared that just in case I wasn’t a fan of the recipe.

The smash can be used as a side dish with any type of protein so if you are not a fan of taco meat, at least make the smash and have it with some pot roast, chicken or any other protein of your liking.

What do you like to top your tacos with? I never thought I would enjoy a taco without sour cream and lots of cheddar cheese but now I couldn’t imagine using either of those.