Sweet potato black bean enchiladas

Happy spring, folks! No matter what’s enveloping you right now, whatever is weighing on your mind, breathe in the fresh new starts that are unfolding. Look out for the purple crocuses peering through the dry grass, spot the robins, feel the beads of moisture on the breezes, and smell their sweetness. You deserve it.

Spring is tender greens, pastels, and rainbows. This weekly staple of ours is none of these things. Zesty, saucy, bright, and hearty—it fits in with spring cheer nonetheless. It’s an anytime fiesta in a dish, easy to make and fun to adapt. Smother it with enchilada sauce, kick it up with extra heat, make it plant-based cheesy gooey, or don’t.

This family favorite is one of the dishes that F helped me with from the time he was a pretty wee little chef. Then, I’d stretch out the steps for what was ultimately quicker prep on the night: when using the oven, I  would pop in the sweet potatoes, then refrigerate them for another day or stretch of days. If I had the chance, I’d chop the onions in advance and store in a zip lock with spices sprinkled on. On the day of cooking, the sweet potato meat would get scooped into a bowl, and the then Little Monkey could mash, mash, mash. He loved that. He’d mash away while I sauteed the onions with spices, then added beans, salsa, and finally the mash. I’d let that filling sit until ready to efficiently roll up in tortillas, pour over sauce, sprinkle plant cheese, if using, and bake. Serve with a drizzle or a smothering of creamy avocado sauce, or not. The combined ingredients are open to all sorts of variations to taste.

These days, windows of time have opened up for meal prep all at once, but for different, regular life-ing, busy schedule reasons, I still and always will appreciate the prep in stages. I still have a little helper, too—albeit a much bigger one who has his own things going and so helps less often, making the help when it happens all the more appreciated and warming. Last week was spring break, and with upcoming travels to plan and save for, we didn’t go anywhere. I was able to take time more relaxed for the week, though, and we had fun, including kitchen creating. Five different days we created together: blueberry pie, Irish soda bread, chocolate dipped stuffed dates, a healthy carrot cake experiment round one that needs further work, and tortillas for this dish.

If you’ve considered making your own flour tortillas but haven’t yet, let this be your sign: do it! I don’t know what I was expecting, but it was quick, easy, fun, and satisfying. The best part is, you get to bypass all those unpronounceable ingredients in typical brands. Oh, and the taste—that’s the even better best part. They keep well for days, too. Keep honing in on the good stuff, friends. Enjoy the things worth savoring and show up to make things better where you can. xo

Give the week some zesty satisfaction!

Yield: 6-8

Author: Wendy McMillan

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Sweet potato black bean enchiladas with creamy avocado sauce

Zesty, saucy, bright, and hearty, this dish is a casserole fiesta, easy to make and fun to adapt. Smother it with enchilada sauce, kick it up with extra heat, make it plant-based cheesy gooey, add in extra vegetables—the variations are limitless.

Prep time: 1 H & 15 MCook time: 35 MinTotal time: 1 H & 50 M

Ingredients

For the enchiladas

• 2-3 large sweet potatoes, baked, scooped and mashed
• 1 14-ounce can no-salt, black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 medium red onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 1 t cumin
• 1 T chili powder
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 Cup fresh salsa
• 1 10-ounce can enchilada sauce
• 6-8 flour tortillas of choice
• Plant-based shredded cheese of choice, optional

For the avocado sauce

• 1 medium ripe avocado, peeled and seeded
• 1/2 cup water
• juice of 1 lime
• dash garlic powder, or to taste
• 1/3 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Heat oil in a medium skillet, and saute onion and garlic until softened. Add cumin, chili powder and paprika, and cook a further 2 minutes, stirring continually.
3. Add beans, mashed sweet potato, and salsa to the pan. Stir to combine and cook until warmed through.
4. Place a thin layer of the enchilada sauce in a 13 X 9 " baking dish. Divide the sweet potato mixture and divide evenly between tortillas, folding up burrito style and placing into the dish fold down. Spread the remaining enchilada sauce over the top. If desired, sprinkle evenly with cheese.
5. Bake for 30 minutes, covering with foil as needed to prevent the cheese becoming crisp.
6. While the casserole is baking, prepare the sauce: in a blender or food processor combine avocado meat, water, lime juice, garlic powder and cilantro. Thin with additional water as needed and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve over warm enchiladas.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

433

Fat

10 g

Sat. Fat

3 g

Carbs

75 g

Fiber

16 g

Net carbs

59 g

Sugar

14 g

Protein

15 g

Sodium

1119 mg

Cholesterol

4 mg