Tacos are one of my favorite dinners to make for a bunch of different reasons. One is that they’re easy. The other is the fact that you can make anything into a taco. The tortilla is the palette and everything that you throw on top is decoration. I guess it’s kind of like smoothie bowl, except not like a smoothie bowl at all.

ANYWAY. I made these tacos tonight because I was craving sweet potato, and also because I’ve been eating somewhat very unhealthy for the past 48 hours. Don’t get me wrong: I enjoyed every second of my meat and cheese-laden pizza last night. But life is nothing without equilibrium.

All you do to make these tacos is roast some diced sweet potatoes with cumin, blanch some kale and sprinkle goat cheese and pumpkin seeds on top. Blanching sounds way more intimidating than it is; all you have to do is throw some kale leaves in a pot of boiling water, wait until it turns bright green and then pour it onto a strainer. Rinse with cold water and you’re done.

On a semi-related note: I’ve been working on my photography lately. Part of that involves pushing myself out of my comfort zone and exploring new angles and perspectives.

When I was in grad school, my photojournalism teacher had me make up a week of class that I missed by going around downtown Chicago with him taking pictures. At one point, we stopped in front of the Art Institute and I asked an old man if I could take his picture.

We were looking through my reel afterward and the picture that I took of the old man was one of my best. “I can’t tell if it’s me or the camera,” I said to my teacher. I was shooting with a nice DSLR. “It’s a little of both,” he responded. His words resonate with me now more than ever.On another semi-related note, my sister and I have been talking about songs that make you feel like you can conquer the world. Everyone should have at least a few in their repertoire. This one is at the top of my list lately.

Kale Sweet Potato Tacos (from me, to you)

Ingredients

1 medium sweet potato, diced and roasted
1 tsp cumin
1 tbsp olive oil
pinch of flaky sea salt
2 cups of kale, blanched
handful of pumpkin seeds
corn tortillas, warmed
crumbled goat cheese and cracked pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Dice a medium sweet potato and place it on the baking sheet. Toss it with the cumin, olive oil and sea salt. Put the sheet in the oven and roast the sweet potato until it’s slightly browned.

Meanwhile, prepare the kale. Boil half a pot of water and add the kale leaves. Allow them to turn bright green before removing, straining and running under cold water. Squeeze out the excess water gently.

Once the potatoes are done, take them out of the oven and let them cool slightly. I put my tortillas in the already-heated oven to warm them up, but feel free to warm them in a skillet over medium-high heat if you prefer.

Assemble the tacos by adding kale, then the sweet potatoes, pumpkin seeds, goat cheese crumbles and cracked pepper. Enjoy while warm.