By October arrived the way it always does out here — with announcement. The first hard freeze came through on Saturday night and I woke Sunday to the garden gray and collapsed, which is always a small grief even when you're expecting it. The tomato plants looked like they'd been told bad news. The zucchini vines lay flat across the bed. I pulled what was left and stripped the last green tomatoes for the windowsill, then turned the beds over with the fork and called it done.
There's a particular mood that comes with the first October freeze and the turning of the beds that I've been trying to name in the manuscript. It's not sadness and it's not relief and it's not quite completion. It's more like the feeling of a conversation ending that you know you'll have again, a recurring goodbye that becomes its own form of arrival. You can't garden in Montana without becoming fluent in that feeling.
Rifle elk season opens the third week of October. I've been glassing the Unit 410 country in the evenings from a high point above the ranch, watching where the elk are moving in the low light. They're in the timber above Elk Creek right now, which is where they usually are in early October before they push to lower elevation. I know that country well enough to make a plan and patient enough to sit with the plan until conditions are right.
Cole called to say that his first official therapeutic riding session is scheduled for November — a seven-year-old boy named Theo who has cerebral palsy and has never been on a horse. Cole's voice when he described it had that particular quality of someone describing the beginning of something they've been building toward without knowing what it would look like when it arrived. I told him to call me after. He said he would.
Roasted root vegetables this week — the last of the garden beets and carrots, plus some parsnips I'd picked up at the farmers market in Lewistown. Tossed with olive oil and thyme, roasted until the edges caramelized, eaten alongside a simple grain salad. October food: dark and sweet and slightly smoky. The season teaches you what it wants you to eat.
The beets and carrots and parsnips I roasted that week reminded me that October wants you to cook simply and with heat — things that caramelize, things that get a little dark at the edges. These roasted sweet potato tacos follow the same logic: root vegetable, high heat, something bright on top to cut through the sweetness. After a morning of pulling dead plants and turning beds, that kind of cooking is the right kind of cooking. It doesn’t ask much of you, and it gives back more than you expect.
Roasted Sweet Potato Tacos
Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 30 min | Total Time: 45 min | Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 8 small corn or flour tortillas
- 1 cup canned black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1/2 cup red cabbage, thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup crumbled cotija or feta cheese
- 1 lime, cut into wedges
- 1/4 cup sour cream or plain Greek yogurt (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven. Heat your oven to 425°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or foil.
- Season the sweet potatoes. Toss the cubed sweet potatoes with olive oil, chili powder, smoked paprika, cumin, garlic powder, salt, and pepper until evenly coated.
- Roast until caramelized. Spread the sweet potatoes in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet. Roast for 25—30 minutes, flipping once halfway through, until the edges are dark and caramelized and the centers are tender.
- Warm the tortillas. In the last few minutes of roasting, warm the tortillas directly over a gas burner or in a dry skillet over medium heat until lightly charred and pliable. Wrap in a clean towel to keep warm.
- Warm the black beans. Heat the drained black beans in a small saucepan over low heat with a pinch of salt and cumin, or microwave until warm, about 1 minute.
- Assemble the tacos. Layer each tortilla with a spoonful of black beans, a generous scoop of roasted sweet potato, and a handful of sliced red cabbage. Top with cilantro, crumbled cheese, and a squeeze of lime. Add a small dollop of sour cream if desired.
- Serve immediately. Serve while the sweet potatoes are still warm from the oven, with extra lime wedges on the side.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 380 | Protein: 11g | Fat: 10g | Carbs: 62g | Fiber: 10g | Sodium: 420mg