YES PLEASE.

This award winning budget-friendly vegetarian enchilada recipe is one of those happy accidents that spring from a burst of creative inspiration. I was craving the soft and spicy comfort of enchiladas one windy spring night back in 2003, and I had none of the usual suspects on hand (no chicken, or beef, no pinto beans). But I had one lovely mother of a sweet potato. I had a can of organic black beans in the pantry. Some roasted green chiles. One lonely lime.


And your intrepid Mamacita at large thought, Hmmm. Why not?


Deliciousness ensued.


These wrapped little gems are soft and creamy and a little bit spicy- just like a certain cook, my point-scoring husband wisecracks. It’s the yams, I tell him. Er, sweet potato. I can never tell the difference. In the end, it doesn’t matter.


What matters is how it tastes.


And Babycakes, these are so very mucho scrumptious. Seriously. I kid you not. Make a batch for a girls’ night in, or a laid back Sunday brunch.


Or dazzle your favorite vegetarian on Meatless Monday. Or Super Bowl Sunday!

Karina’s Sweet Potato Black Bean Enchiladas Recipe


Recipe originally published October 2006 by Karina Allrich.


Winner of the Whole Foods Budget Friendly Recipe Contest, shown is family style, rolled into a baking dish. For company I prefer to nestle these babies into individual gratin dishes. It makes for a prettier presentation. I often vary the recipe (shocking, I know!) by adding a schmear of cream cheese down the middle of the corn tortilla. The chile sauce can be mild or hot. However you like it, Darling. Both ways are tasty.


Ingredients:


Quickie Green Chile Sauce:


1 cup light vegetable broth
1 tablespoon arrowroot starch dissolved in a little cold water
1 generous cup chopped roasted green chiles- hot or mild
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon cumin or chili powder, hot or mild, to taste


For the filling:

1 15-oz can organic black beans, rinsed, drained
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
Fresh lime juice from 1 big juicy lime
2 heaping cups cooked sweet potatoes, smashed a bit, but still chunky [I cube mine, then soften just a little]
1/2 cup chopped roasted green chiles
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder, or curry, mild or spicy, as you prefer
Sea salt and black pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro


To Assemble:


2-4 tablespoons light olive oil or vegetable oil, as needed
8 white or yellow corn tortillas
Shredded Jalapeño Jack cheese, mild cheddar, or GF vegan cheese, if desired


Instructions:


Preheat your oven to 350ºF. Choose a baking dish that would hold 8 enchiladas.


Make your Quickie Green Chile Sauce by combining the broth, dissolved arrowroot, green chiles, garlic and spices in a sauce pan and heating over medium-high heat. Bring to a high simmer. Simmer until thickened. Taste test. Set aside.


In the meantime, using a mixing bowl, combine the drained black beans with minced garlic and lime juice. Toss to coat the beans and set aside.


In a separate bowl combine the lightly smashed sweet potatoes with the chopped green chiles; add the spices. Season with sea salt and pepper.


Pour about 1/4 cup of the Quickie Green Chile Sauce into the bottom of the baking dish.


Grab a skillet and heat a dash of oil. Lightly cook the corn tortillas to soften them – one at a time – as you stuff each one.


How do I stuff thee?


Lay the first hot tortilla in the sauced baking dish; wet it with the sauce.


Spoon 1/8 of the sweet potato mixture down the center.


Top with 1/8 of the black beans.


Wrap and roll the tortilla to the end of the baking dish.


Repeat for the remaining tortillas. Top with the rest of the sauce.


If you like, top with a sprinkle of shredded Monterey Jack cheese or vegan cheese.


Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the enchiladas are piping hot and the sauce is bubbling around the edges.


Serve with a crisp salad of baby greens and herbs spiked with oranges, strawberries, watermelon or halved grapes. For quick and easy salad dressing recipes see Three Ways to Dress a Naked Salad.


Cook time: 25 min


Yield: 4 servings




Recipe Source: glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com

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Karina’s Notes:


To keep it strictly vegan and dairy-free, Dear Reader, use vegan broth and non-dairy gluten-free vegan cheese in this recipe.


Choose fat, bulky sweet potatoes- the long, skinny tubers are stringier.


Use fresh tortillas that are flexible. Stale tortillas crack. Heating the tortillas briefly in hot oil helps soften them.


To make a sour cream green chile sauce, whisk in two or three spoons of sour cream [or non-dairy sour cream] after it has thickened.

Looking for a new vegan cookbook that is also gluten-free? Check out Jennifer Katzinger’s Gluten-Free & Vegan for the Whole Family.