What really makes these sweet potato & black bean tacos sing is chipotle peppers in adobo. The smoky spice of the peppers balances the sweetness of the potatoes beautifully. Makes 6 tacos.
TO COOK SWEET POTATOES IN THE OVEN: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On a parchment paper lined baking sheet, toss sweet potato pieces with 1 teaspoon oil. Lay the pieces evenly across the baking sheet, making sure not to touch or overcrowd. Bake them for 20 minutes, stopping once or twice throughout the baking time to toss the potatoes for even browning. After 20 minutes, check to see if they're done - brown on the outside and soft on the inside. If not, cook 5 minutes longer. Once finished, remove from oven and set aside.
TO COOK SWEET POTATOES IN AIR FRYER: Put sweet potato pieces into air fryer basket. Spray them with oil or toss with a teaspoon of oil. Cook at 400 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes, stopping once or twice to shake the basket.
While the sweet potatoes are cooking, in a large skillet, bring remaining half teaspoon of oil to a medium heat. Saute onions and garlic for a few minutes, until translucent and fragrant.
Add black beans, chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, cumin, paprika, ancho chili powder, salt, and agave or maple syrup to the skillet. Put 2 Tablespoons of water into the skillet and combine all of the ingredients.
Add the cooked sweet potatoes to the skillet and the remaining Tablespoon of water to fully incorporate all of the spices.
Taste for salt and add more if desired. If you'd like spicier tacos, add an additional chopped chipotle pepper or a half teaspoon of adobo sauce. Fully incorporate all of the ingredients in the skillet.
Fill the warmed taco shells with a few spoonfuls of black bean and sweet potato mixture, green leaf lettuce, a dollop of guacamole or slices of avocado, and orange cranberry salsa, if using.
Notes
If you’d prefer to cook the sweet potatoes in a skillet on the stove instead of an air fryer or oven, that will work too. You will need more oil than is called for here.Because the sweet potatoes take the longest to cook, I recommend browning those first in a skillet, and then continuing with the onions and garlic after the potatoes are pretty much cooked.