Sweet Potato & Harissa Tofu Tacos

A few weeks ago Mr. Porker was off for some work thing for an entire weekend. So I decided to bake myself some bread, got some fancy salted French butter and made myself some dips and spreads to go with it.

The problem is that home-made bread isn’t all that nice on day two, let alone mine. So here I was with a bucket of hummus and pail of harissa and nowhere to put it. Or so I thought.

I love it when a plan comes together

Then I remembered I also had a sweet potato wondering around somewhere. And I always keep a bag of tortillas around in case I need to wrap something or fry up a fresh batch nachos. And so, the sweet potato harissa tofu taco was born. I happily had this for dinner (and lunch) 3 days in a row so this really is a good one.

When do I eat sweet potato and harissa tofu tacos?

These really work any time of day. If you are planning to make all the elements yourself it will take you some time in which case breakfast is probably not an option.

What you’ll need

• My recipe for making your own vegan minced tofu, also shared below for an easier cooking experience. Ready made minced (vegan) mince also works
• Chickpea and garlic dip, an adjustment to my miso-amped hummus, recipe also included below and of course store-bought hummus also works
• Harissa from my vegan harrisa tofu and tahini noodle bowl, store bought also works

Sweet Potato and Harissa Tofu Tacos

Dorothy Porker

A vegan taco recipe with filling sweet potato, creamy garlic and chickpea spread and crispy punchy harissa tofu mince.

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Resting time 8 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Course Dinner, Lunch, Main course

Cuisine Fusion, Mexican, Middle Eastern, Vegan, Vegetarian

Servings 2

Equipment

• Clean towel
• Large saucepan
• Ladle
• Oven
• Food processor
• Heavy pot or other heavy object
• Kitchen towels
• Frying pan x2
• Small food processor

Ingredients

  

For the garlic dip (optional, store bought hummus works as well)

• 7 oz - 200 gr dried chickpeas soaked for a minimum of 8 hours or overnight
• 3 heads garlic cloves separated but not peeled
• olive oil
• t t - 5 gr baking soda
• 1/4 c - 60 ml olive oil
• pinch salt
• 1/4 c - 60 ml lemon juice fresh preferred
• 1 t - 5 gr salt
• 1/4 t - 1.5 gr cumin powder
• 1/2 c - 120 ml tahin
• t T - 15 gr miso
• 3 ice cubes
• 3/4 c - 180 ml cooking liquid from the chickpeas, see instructions

For the harissa (optional, store bought harissa works as well)

• 1/4 t - 1.5 gr coriander seed
• 1/4 t - 1.5 gr fennel seed
• 2 T - 30 ml red wine vinegar Balsamic also works
• 3 cloves garlic smashes and peeled
• 2 T - 30 gr tomato puree
• juice of half a lemon
• 4 T - 60 ml olive oil
• 1 1/2 T - 45 gr smoked sweet paprika
• 1/4 t - 1.5 gr chili flakes
• pinch nutmeg
• pinch black pepper
• pinch salt

For the minced tofu - optional, store bought (vegan) mince is fine too

• 9 oz - 250 gr firm tofu get it from an Asian supermarket and thank me later
• 1/2 T - 5 gr corn starch other starchy flours also work
• pinch salt
• neutral oil for frying

For the sweet potato

• 1 large sweet potato peeled and cut into chunks
• 1 T -15 gr corn flour or any other starchy flour
• neutral oil

To finish

• 4 tortilla's I prefer corn, but you do you
• bunch curly parsley optional, chopped

Instructions

 

Make the chickpea garlic dip (optional, store bought hummus works as well)

• You can also buy ready-made hummus of choice.
• Preheat an oven to 160° C - 320° F.
• Spread the individual unpeeled garlic cloves in an even layer across an oven tray. Coat evenly in olive oil and salt generously.
• Roast the garlic cloves until they have gone soft and squishy, in my oven this takes about 30-45 minutes.
• Drain the soaked chickpeas, place them on a kitchen towel and dry them off gently.
• Move the chickpeas to a heavy-based pan with the baking soda and cook on a low heat while stirring vigorously for 2 to 3 minutes or so.
• Cover the chickpeas until they are submerged in about an inch of cold water and bring to a boil.
• Leave to simmer until they are soft. This should take 30 minutes to an hour, depending on the quality and age of your chickpeas. Use a ladle to remove any foam or chickpea skins that come bubbling to the surface. Add water if your chickpeas appear to be drying out, but haven't softened yet.
• Drain the chickpeas, making sure you hang on to the cooking liquid. You'll need it for the next step.
• Peel or smoosh the garlic out of their skins.
• Place the chickpeas,1/4 c - 60 ml olive oil and garlic mush into a food processor along with a first scoop of the cooking liquid. Blitz for 2 minutes. Add more of the liquid if your food processor starts to struggle.
• Finally add 1/4 c - 60 ml lemon juice, 1 t - 5 gr salt, 1/4 t - 1.5 gr cumin, 1/2 c - 120 ml tahin, 1 T - 15 gr miso and 3 ice cubes and blend again for at least 2 minutes until well combined and fluffy. If your food processor is struggling again use a wooden spoon to beat the ingredients together until the last of the ice cubes as dissolved completely.

Make the harissa (optional, store bought harissa works as well)

• You can also buy read-made harissa.
• Toast the 1/4 t - 1.5 gr of coriander and fennel seeds in a dry pan until aromatic.
• Add the toasted coriander and fennel, 2 T - 30 ml red wine vinegar, 3 cloves of garlic, juice of half a lemon, 1/4 c - 60 ml olive oil, 1 1/2 T - 30 gr sweet smoked paprika, 1/4 t - 1.5 gr chili flakes and pinches of nutmeg, black pepper and salt to a small food processor and blend until smooth. Taste and add more salt or spice as you see fit.

Make the minced tofu - optional, store bought (vegan) mince is fine too

• You can also use store-bought mince of choice.
• Press 9 oz - 250 gr of tofu by placing it between some kitchen towels and placing a heavy object on top for 30 minutes or so. I use a cast iron Dutch oven but use what you have.
• While this is happening we're going to start the potato cubes and come back to the tofu once those are in the oven.

Bake the sweet potato cubes

• Preheat your oven to 175° C - 350° F.
• Lightly coat the sweet potato cubes in sunflower oil and 1/2 T - 7 gr of corn starch. Do not salt the cubes until removing them from the oven.
• Place the sweet potato cubes on a sheet of parchment on a baking tray and cook until they start to brown on the edges. Usually this takes between 20-30 minutes. Be sure to check regularly because sweet potato has a tendency to burn fast.

Back to the tofu

• Crumble the tofu into a bowl. The pieces should remain of uneven in size and shape, as if you've fried off some actual minced meat in a frying pan.
• Thinly coat the crumbled tofu with 1/2 T - 7 gr corn flour or any starch at hand and salt generously.
• Fry the crumbled tofu in a thin layer of neutral oil in a (non-stick) frying pan. Do this in batches to avoid overcrowding the pan and ensure crisp. Fry the tofu until golden and partially crispy.
• Drain on kitchen towel before mixing with 2-3 T - 30-45 gr of the harissa.

Compose your tacos

• Heat your tortillas the way you normally would, I like to heat mine in a dry non-stick frying pan until they begin to crisp.
• Now assemble your tacos: use a back of a spoon to spread the ehr... spread on your taco, top with the harissa coated crispy tofu and oven baked (and salted!) sweet potato and a few sprigs of fresh parsley.

Keyword baked potato, harissa, minced tofu, sweet potato, tacos, tacos de moronga, tofu