Fiber, protein, and polyphenols! What more could one ask for? Well, great taste and warm healthy goodness, which these deliver:

You will need

For the sweet potatoes:

• 2 medium sweet potatoes, cubed (we recommend leaving the skin on, but you can peel them if you really want to)
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• ½ tsp MSG or 1 tsp low-sodium salt

For the black beans:

• 2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed (or 2 cups black beans that you cooked yourself)
• ¼ bulb garlic, minced
• 1 fresh jalapeño finely chopped (or ¼ cup jalapeños from a jar, finely chopped) ← adjust quantities per your preference and per the quality of the pepper(s) you’re using; we can’t judge that from here without tasting them, so we give a good basic starting suggestion.
• 2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp red chili flakes
• ½ tsp MSG or 1 tsp low-sodium salt

For serving:

• 8 small corn tortillas, or your preference if substituting
• 1 avocado, pitted, peeled, cubed, and tossed in lime juice ← we’re mentioning this here because you want to do this as soon as you cut it, to avoid oxidation
• Any other salad you’d like to include; fresh parsley is also a good option when it comes to greenery, or cilantro if you don’t have the soap gene
• Tomato salsa (quantity and spice level per your preference)

Method

(we suggest you read everything at least once before doing anything)

1) Preheat the oven to 400°F / 200°C.

2) Toss the sweet potato cubes in a large bowl with the rest of the ingredients from the sweet potato section above, ensuring they are evenly coated.

3) Bake them in the oven, on a baking tray lined with baking paper, for about 30 minutes or until tender inside and crispy at the edges. Turn them over halfway through.

4) While that’s happening, mix the black beans in a bowl with the other ingredients from the black bean section above, and heat them gently. You could do this in a saucepan, but honestly, while it’s not glamorous, the microwave is actually better for this. Note: many people find the microwave cooks food unevenly, but there are two reasons for this and they’re both easily fixable:

• instead of using high power for x minutes, use medium power for 2x minutes; this will produce better results
• instead of putting the food just in a bowl, jug, or similar, use a wide bowl or similar container, and then inside that, place a small empty microwave-safe glass jar or similar upturned in the middle, and then add the food around it, so that the food is arranged in a donut shape rather than a wide cylinder shape. This means there is no “middle bit” to go underheated while the edges are heated excessively; instead, it will heat through evenly.

If you really don’t want to do that though, use a saucepan on a very low heat, add a small amount of liquid (or tomato salsa), and stir constantly.

5) Heat the tortillas in a dry skillet for about 30 seconds each on each side, when ready to serve.

6) Assemble the tacos; you can do this how you like but a good order of operations is: tortilla, leafy salad (if using), potato, beans, non-leafy salad including avocado, salsa or other topping per your preference.

Enjoy!

Want to learn more?

For those interested in some of the science of what we have going on today:

• White Potato vs Sweet Potato – Which is Healthier?
• Kidney Beans or Black Beans – Which is Healthier?
• Coconut vs Avocado – Which is Healthier?
• Glutathione: More Than An Antioxidant
• Our Top 5 Spices: How Much Is Enough For Benefits? ← we hit 4/5 today!

Take care!

Today we have a recipe we’ve mentioned before, but now we have standalone recipe pages for recipes, so here we go. The dish of the day is shchi—which is Russian cabbage soup, which sounds terrible, and looks as bad as it sounds. But it tastes delicious, is an incredible comfort food, and is famous (in Russia, at least) for being something one can eat for many days in a row without getting sick of it.

It’s also got an amazing nutritional profile, with vitamins A, B, C, D, as well as lots of calcium, magnesium, and iron (amongst other minerals), and a healthy blend of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats, plus an array of anti-inflammatory phytochemicals, and of course, water.

You will need

• 1 large white cabbage, shredded
• 1 cup red lentils
• ½ lb tomatoes, cut into eighths (as in: halve them, halve the halves, and halve the quarters)
• ½ lb mushrooms sliced (or halved, if they are baby button mushrooms)
• 1 large onion, chopped finely
• 1 tbsp rosemary, chopped finely
• 1 tbsp thyme, chopped finely
• 1 tbsp black pepper, coarse ground
• 1 tsp cumin, ground
• 1 tsp yeast extract
• 1 tsp MSG, or 2 tsp low-sodium salt
• A little parsley for garnishing
• A little fat for cooking; this one’s a tricky and personal decision. Butter is traditional, but would make this recipe impossible to cook without going over the recommended limit for saturated fat. Avocado oil is healthy, relatively neutral in taste, and has a high smoke point for caramelizing the onions. Extra virgin olive oil is also a healthy choice, but not as neutral in flavor and does have a lower smoke point. Coconut oil has far too strong a taste and a low smoke point. Seed oils are very heart-unhealthy. All in all, avocado oil is a respectable choice from all angles except tradition.

Note: with regard to the seasonings, the above is a basic starting guide; feel free to add more per your preference—however, we do not recommend adding more cumin (it’ll overpower it) or more salt (there’s enough sodium in here already).

Method

(we suggest you read everything at least once before doing anything)

1) Cook the lentils until soft (a rice cooker is great for this, but a saucepan is fine); be generous with the water; we are making a soup, after all. Set them aside without draining.

2) Sauté the cabbage, and put it in a big stock pot or similar large pan (not yet on the heat)

3) Fry the mushrooms, and add them to the big pot (still not yet on the heat)

4) Use a stick blender to blend the lentils in the water you cooked them in, and then add to the big pot too.

5) Turn the heat on low, and if necessary, add more water to make it into a rich soup

6) Add the seasonings (rosemary, thyme, cumin, black pepper, yeast extract, MSG-or-salt) and stir well. Keep the temperature on low; you can just let it simmer now because the next step is going to take a while:

7) Caramelize the onion (keep an eye on the big pot, stirring occasionally) and set it aside

8) Fry the tomatoes quickly (we want them cooked, but just barely) and add them to the big pot

9) Serve! The caramelized onion is a garnish, so put a little on top of each bowl of shchi. Add a little parsley too.

Enjoy!

Want to learn more?

For those interested in some of the science of what we have going on today:

• Level-Up Your Fiber Intake! (Without Difficulty Or Discomfort)
• The Magic Of Mushrooms: “The Longevity Vitamin” (That’s Not A Vitamin)
• Easily Digestible Vegetarian Protein Sources
• The Bare-Bones Truth About Osteoporosis
• Some Surprising Truths About Hunger And Satiety

Take care!