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Whenever I used to hear about moms going dairy-free for their babies, I marveled at their strength of character and knew that I could never be one of them—I love dairy (especially butter!) too much. Those poor souls, I would think, cutting thick slabs of butter to plop on my already buttery scones. That will never be me, I thought, sipping my whole milk latte. Fast-forward a few years and, what do you know, Wren seemed to have an intolerance to milk protein. And so against all odds, I went dairy free for about seven weeks. It wasn’t quite as bad as I imagined—these days, there are a lot of excellent dairy free and vegan options at restaurants and stores. My main issue was butter as a condiment; I tried using vegan butter, but the flavor was off-putting since I was so used to the regular stuff. Fortunately, when vegan butter was masked in baked goods, I didn’t mind it at all. I used those seven weeks to explore the world of dairy-free recipes and found several that are still in heavy rotation, despite being back on the dairy these days.

I developed this recipe after seeing a picture in our nearest Whole Foods store window. I simply made the dish as it looked in the photo and, lo and behold, it was fantastic! Thank you, Whole Foods advertising team. This is a very quick, satisfying, low-prep meal (which is very much what I need these days) that also happens to be dairy free and vegan, if you use dairy-free sour cream like I did during my brief hiatus. Feel free to add your favorite taco protein (we ate them the other night sprinkled with taco-seasoned ground beef and it was delicious), any salsa or hot sauce you love, and whichever other toppings you can think of.

Taco-Style Sweet Potatoes

Serves 4

4 small sweet potatoes (yams)
olive oil

½ small red onion
1 lemon
1 lime
⅛ tsp fine sea salt

15oz black beans, drained and rinsed
½ tsp ground cumin
¼ tsp fine sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

1 avocado
⅛ tsp fine sea salt, plus more to taste
squeeze of lime

sour cream, dairy-free or whole milk, to serve
1 lime sliced into wedges, to serve (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Wash the sweet potatoes and set them in a baking dish that will fit them all side by side. Rub them all over with olive oil and poke each in several spots with a sharp knife (to stop them exploding in the oven). Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until the middles are completely soft when poked with a sharp knife.

While the sweet potatoes bake, slice the half red onion into thin crescents. Toss in a small bowl with the juice of 1 lemon and one lime plus ¼ tsp fine sea salt. Set aside and toss occasionally while you prep the rest of your ingredients.

Meanwhile, set a small pot over medium heat. Add a couple big glugs of olive oil, then the black beans, ½ tsp ground cumin, ¼ tsp fine sea salt, and a few cracks of freshly ground black pepper. Stir often, until heated through. Taste and add salt if needed.

Mash the avocado with a squeeze of lime and ⅛ tsp fine sea salt. Taste and add more salt or lime as needed.

Slice the baked sweet potatoes in half. Top each half with a couple spoonfuls of beans, some pickled onions, avocado, and sour cream (dairy-free or otherwise). Sprinkle with a little flaky sea salt and a squeeze of lime, if desired. Enjoy!