By Ray Rogers
“It all started with a breakfast burrito—my whole cooking career,” says chef Adam Kenworthy. As an undergrad at Colorado State University, studying natural resources recreational tourism, the avid endurance and adventure sportsman would rely on his morning staple to power rigorous backcountry mountaineering trips. “I got more curious about studying nutrition and understanding how the different fuels we use could enable me to do what I love to do even better.”
Today, he’s hoping his popular @adamkenworthy Instagram account helps novice home cooks up their game, too. “Given our current circumstances, people are going to slow down. There’s a necessity to work with the bare minimum, to go back a simpler time,” says Kenworthy, known to fans of The Real Housewives of New York City for having dated Carole Radziwill. “And cooking is the foundation, a fundamental of a household. I’m also a firm believer that food is medicine. It’s kinda my ethos.”
There’s no time like the present, when much of the country is still staying close to home, to learn to cook for yourself. Kenworthy, a vegetarian since the day he saw the documentary Food, Inc. 12 years ago, likes to keep things loose in the kitchen. This easy-to-make recipe for plant-based tacos calls for sauteed white and sweet potatoes, zucchini and cauliflower, but he notes that whatever veggies you have in the fridge will work just as well.
“I’m kind of anti-recipe,” he admits. With his highly stylized and playful Instagram videos—like the one he filmed with Purist founder Cristina Cuomo as his sous chef on this recipe—“the aim is to provide more of an inspiration,” he says.
Dishes like these veggie tacos, which get a spicy kick from Frank’s RedHot sauce, present “a great way to encourage people to work with what they have. Any kind of vegetables you like will be great in that taco. I made a breakfast taco just this morning with potatoes, shallots, broccoli and egg, working with what I had at home.”
Go ahead, play around, have some fun in the kitchen, and savor the delicious rewards of your experimentation.
Vegan Taco Recipe
Serves 2
Ingredients:
Potato
Sweet potato
Zucchini
Head of purple cauliflower
One lemon
Salt
Head of red cabbage
Sir Kensington’s Fabanaise
Frank’s RedHot Sauce
Avocado
Lime
Siete almond flour tortillas (see Note, below)
Cilantro leaves
Instructions:
1. Skin and cut potato and sweet potato into small cubes. Lightly oil a large skillet; heat over medium heat, then add potatoes.
2. Meanwhile, cut zucchini into small cubes, and chop cauliflower roughly. Add zucchini and cauliflower to pan. When vegetables have begun to soften, squeeze lemon juice over them. Be sure to keep an eye on the veggies, as they will turn from golden brown to burnt quickly. Salt to taste.
3. To make slaw, cut cabbage into shreds. Mix Sir Kensington’s Fabanaise with Frank’s RedHot sauce to make the aioli. Toss cabbage with aioli; set aside.
4. Peel, pit and cut avocado into thin slices; set aside.
5. Cut lime into wedges; set aside.
6. Place tortilla in a pan at medium heat until golden brown. Fill tortilla with veggies; top with slaw, avocado and cilantro
as desired and serve with lime wedges.
Note: Siete tortillas are gluten free, and soft like traditional flour tortillas. They’re available in many stores and online.