Sweet Potato & Black Bean Enchiladas

I received a text from my sister-in-law today after she read the Scrambled Eggz blog. Deidra was curious if we were having dinner since we had already eaten. I kinda freaked out because I thought maybe we had forgotten about having dinner with them and all we had was leftovers. As it turns out, she was just really hoping we were making dinner because Chuck, her husband and personal chef, is out of town. :) I instantly started brainstorming about what I could make for dinner.

After skimming through a few cookbooks and considering Deidra's likes and dislikes, I decided on Sweet Potato & Black Bean Enchiladas (Source: Vegan Planet by Robin Robertson). I served them with a side of red beans and rice and, naturally, added a few of my own ingredients. Topped with some veggie cheese and vegan sour cream, it came out better than I had expected. Cody & I topped ours with green chili, but Deidra kept hers as heat free as possible.



Sweet Potato & Black Bean Enchiladas
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook time: Total - 40 minutes

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 large garlice clove, minced
1 small chili in adobo, minced
1 15-oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup crushed tomatoes
1 tbsp chili powder
Salt and pepper
2 cups salsa
8 large flour tortillas
1 cup vegan cheese

1. Preheat the oven to 400° F. Arrange the sweet potatoes in a single layer on a lightly oiled baking sheet and roast until tender, turning once, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.

2. Reduce the oven temperature to 350° F. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and chile and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the beans, tomatoes, chili powder, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the sweet potatoes and simmer for 5 minutes. Set aside.

3. Spread a thin layer of salsa over the bottom of a lightly oiled 9 x 13-inch baking dish and set aside.

4. Spoon a portion of the sweet potato mixture down the center of a tortilla and roll it up. Place the filled tortilla in the baking dish seam side down and repeat with the rest of the tortillas. Top the enchiladas with the remaining salsa and sprinkle with the cheese. Cover and bake until hot and bubbly, about 20 minutes.



I thought this dinner was absolutely delicious. I'll probably use an enchilada sauce the next time I make it instead of just salsa, and I'll definitely make it hotter when Deidra isn't around. :)





Tonight we have a guest writer in the Meat Cleaver Corner. In my first blog, I mentioned that Deidra would be sitting in from time to time, giving us her Clean Plate Club rating. We'll start off with Cody's rating, and then move right along to Deidra.

Cody rates this dinner...



TASTY!!!

Alright! Enchiladas! Definitely my favorite part of living in NM: the food! Bring on the green! These enchiladas were drenched in hot green chili sauce, but it definitely wasn't pushing my spice boundaries. I thought about maybe adding some Frank's...speaking of Frank's, they make a Frank's Xtra Hot!! I've only seen it in one place and that was in Missouri or somewhere when we stopped for breakfast, and I haven't been able to find it ANYWHERE ELSE! Anyways, I digress! I'm a big fan of sweet potatoes, and these enchiladas were "bringing it strong" as my brother-in-law would say. However, let me tell you what was "not-bringing-it-strong": Tofutti Sour Cream. Well, I don't want to be too hard on ol' Tofutti, once it's mixed in with the food, just like most vegan toppings, it takes on the flavor of everything else. But a small taste of this concoction straight out of the tub brings my taste buds to places they rarely travel; and by that I mean the inside of an old box. Also, I don't know why it's called Tofutti. Yes, it is made primarily of tofu...got it; but what's with the -utti? That has nothing to do with sour cream! Maybe they should have called it Tofour, or Creamfu, or inside-of-an-old-box-white-hippie-goo! ...heh heh heh. Gross.

...SEE YA!!



Deidra's plate ended up...



96% CLEAN!!!

Hello world! (Thats a programming joke, FTW) Welcome to Deidra's clean plate corner. Let me preface this by declaring that I am one of the pickiest eaters in the metropolis of Albuquerque, possibly the entire desert that is the state of New Mexico. I HATE trying new things. In fact, for my entire life, every time we go out to eat, I order a cheeseburger. That, however, was pre-Elizabeth. Well, just the trying new things part, specifically new food. I still love my cheeseburgers. Since I have had the privilege of many Elizabeth dinners I have discovered the delights of green peppers, eggplant and chunks of fake chicken. I am still holding strong on any type of fungus and spicy anything.

So imagine my surprise after inviting myself over for dinner tonight to find that Elizabeth had so lovingly put together enchiladas for the lover of all things spicy. After puzzling over the waxy, cheese-like substance on the top of the enchiladas, I happily tried out the Tofutti sour cream, quickly passed and dug in. Did I mention that my second favorite food is tortilla? I LOVE tortillas. By far one of the best parts of living in the New Mexico. Now, I don't handle my fire well but powered through red faced and sweaty. Unfortunately I was unable to perform a 100% clean plate due to my lips being so numb that it was impossible to chew food. The tortillas were amazing, rice and beans top notch. Now, Cody and Elizabeth are going to tell you that they weren't that spicy. Be sure to factor in their mutant japanese taste buds before you add in the second chili.