Karina's Sweet Potato & Black Bean Enchiladas

This enchilada recipe won the Whole Foods Budget Recipe Challenge.

This enchilada recipe is one of those happy accidents. I was craving enchiladas one night and had none of the usual suspects on hand. But I had one big mother of a sweet potato. And a can of black beans. Some roasted green chiles. One lonely lime. And your intrepid Mamacita at large thought, Hmmm... Why not?

These wrapped little gems are soft and creamy and a little bit spicy. Just like a certain cook, my husband would say. It's the yams, I tell him. Er, sweet potato. I can never tell the difference. It doesn't matter. What matters most is how it tastes. And Babycakes, these are so very mucho scrumptious. Seriously. I kid you not.

Karina's Sweet Potato & Black Bean Enchiladas Recipe

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 vary the recipe sometimes [shocking, I know!] by adding a schmear of cream cheese down the middle of the corn tortilla before spooning in the sweet potato filling. And the chile sauce can be mild or hot. However you like it. Both are tasty.

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 corn tortillas (I used Mission gluten-free tortillas)
Shredded Monterey Jack cheese, or vegan cheese, if desired

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. 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.

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.

Serves 4.

Printer-friendly recipe

Karina's Notes:

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

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

• Looking for an authentic vegetarian green chile recipe? Try my New Mexican green chile recipe.