I developed this recipe for a fellow blogger, Raquel at Sincerely Nourished, but wanted to make sure you all got to see it to! This is a super simple recipe anyone can throw together for dinner and is so packed with flavor you will feel like you are on vacation in North Africa!
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This month’s challenge from The Recipe Redux is near and dear to my heart: tacos!!
Show us your healthy, creative take on the taco.
For as long as I can remember, tacos have been a favorite food of mine. When I was a kid, my mom had (still has) special bowls that she used to put out the taco toppings and whenever I saw those bowls coming down from the cupboard I knew that an awesome dinner was in store! I think because I was a picky eater I enjoyed the control I had over my own plate—I got to choose which toppings I used and which I avoided and, if I was feeling brave, I could try something new in a small and safe way. As a kid, the taco options were the same every time: ground beef, kidney beans, lettuce, tomatoes, onion, cheese, and salsa. And still, with the exception of raw onions which I am not a huge fan of, I love all of those components and would happily have one of my childhood tacos any night!
For this Taco Tuesday, though, I’m sharing a different version. While the ground beef is great and we definitely eat it from time to time in our house, it isn’t usually something I include with taco night because there are other, healthier sources of fat in the meal. In fact, many times our taco nights are vegetarian, using beans as the protein source. The tacos I’m sharing today involve one of my all-time favorite flavor combinations, black beans and sweet potatoes, along with a creamy avocado-based sauce that makes the whole meal feel special! In fact, the last time I made the avocado crema my 8-year-old said, “wow! This is such a fancy meal!” when the only difference was replacing our standard cut up avocado with the crema.
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Each year for Christmas my aunt sends my parents an Irish smoked salmon. If you have never had Irish smoked salmon, you are really missing out. It is a completely different experience from the smoked salmon we eat on bagels.And this year my boys completely fell in love with it. So when we got home from our trip to Colorado the biggest request my boys had from the grocery store was smoked salmon. While I couldn’t give them the Irish kind, I was happy to pick up some of the kind we all know and love.
When I first started shopping and cooking for myself I never bought smoked salmon because I was never able to get through it all in time and it felt like a waste. I would have it on bagels with cream cheese and enjoy it immensely but then I always had more left that I didn’t know what to do with. Years later, as my confidence in the kitchen started to grow, I began playing around with it in different ways and discovered that I loved using it in cooking. It was easy to use and just a little bit added so much flavor (sort of like bacon).
One of my favorite ways to cook with smoked salmon is in a frittata. I love the saltiness and the kick that it adds, plus it pairs nicely with many of my other favorite frittata mix-ins. But the other reason I love smoked salmon frittatas, or any frittata for that matter, is that, along with some crusty bread and a salad, it is a quick, easy, and healthy dinner to get on the table in less than 30 minutes….
