Sweet Potato Black Bean Enchiladas

I created a dish that I am proud of! I got really creative one night and decided that I could make my own recipe instead of relying on the genius of others. This recipe is perfect for the fall or a chilly night. It is hearty, healthy, spicy and comforting. Reduce the cheese amount to make the dish healthier...I went a little overboard (this was pre dairy allergy). If you cook it please tell me how you like it. Enjoy!

 

Sweet Potato Black Bean Enchiladas

Ingredients:

• 1/2 jar (or more) green chili sauce (I use 505 Natural South Western)
• 2 jalapenos
• 6 cloves garlic chopped
• Little olive oil
• Sprinkle ground cumin
• Sprinkle ground chili powder
• Sprinkle pepper
• 1 large sweet potato (or yam...I don't know the difference)
• 1 can black beans
• 1 large lime
• Handful Cilantro
• 3/4 lb. Montery Jack Cheese shredded (or cheese of your choice)
• 10 corn tortillas

Sauce:

Dice the jalapenos removing the seeds and ribs. Cook in a sauce pan with a little olive oil for a few minutes. Add 3 cloves chopped garlic. Add cumin, chili powder and pepper. Let cook until jalapenos and garlic are a little soft. Add the half jar of green chili sauce. Let simmer for a while so flavors may blend.

Filling:

Cook the sweet potato in what ever manner you see fit (I started with the oven, became inpatient and chopped it up and cooked it in the microwave). Put chopped pieces of sweet potato into a food processor and blend until smoothish. I left the skins on for added nutrients. Set aside. Drain and rinse the black beans. Add 3 chopped cloves of garlic and some chopped cilantro, to taste. Juice the lime into the beans/garlic/cilantro mixture. Give it a good stir to blend flavors.

 

Compile:

Put half of the sauce mixture on the bottom of a casserole dish. Put a little olive oil in a saute pan and put it on medium heat. Throw a corn tortilla on the oil in pan until it is warm. Put the tortilla in the casserole dish, oil side down, add a spoonful of sweet potato and a couple spoonfuls of the black bean mixture. Sprinkle some cheese as well. Roll up the tortilla and squish it against the edge. You will gather some of the green chili from the bottom in the process. I fit eight of these in the dish and another two sneaky ones on the side. Pour the rest of the sauce on the top of your rolled enchiladas, then top with a generous amount of cheese. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees. Garnish with cilantro.

Black Bean and Cilantro Ravioli with Lemon Yogurt Sauce

So I went a little crazy and had a ravioli bananza! Although these are fried again, I am definitely looking forward to steaming them in the future. The body can only handle so much fried food. So without further ado...cilantro black bean ravioli. Pretty much the same idea as the cilantro and shrimp ones....

Chop up some cooked (or canned) black beans and mix with chopped fresh cilantro, salt, pepper and garlic salt. Heat up the bean mixture a little in a sauce pan and place on the egg roll wrapper square putting egg on the edges to seal.

Fry the little guys up in some oil until golden brown

MMM so good!

Here is an internal view

To add a creamy touch I put together a lemon yogurt sauce. I can't remember exactly what I did, but I think this is the general idea...
-1/4 stick of butter
-1 cup Greek yogurt
-splash of almond milk
-fresh lemon juice from 1 lemon
Heat on low-medium heat until smooth and creamy. Top the ravioli with sauce and then smile a little because dinner is done :)

Gluten Free Brownies, Black Bean Casserole, Tandoori Tofu, Margaritas

Ingredients for the brownies

Gluten Free Brownies, Black Bean Casserole, Tandoori Tofu, Margaritas

I cooked up the Gluten Free Brownies the night before we were to have Dan and Serena over for dinner and Wii games. Jeff had gotten all of the groceries together except Amaranth flour, which needed to be purchased at Whole Foods. After driving to Littleton and back to take advantage of 5 cent photo prints at the Kings there; I stopped by Whole Foods. I got a little carried away….along with the flour I left the store with 4 spice plants (chives, basil, parsley and catnip). I am going to attempt to keep them growing on my porch. I also made a stop at Lowes to get pots to plant them in, cilantro and soil (which I now have a huge bag of…anybody need some soil?). I digress. So anyway, I made up the brownies which are gluten free, egg free and dairy free (I assumed they would taste like crap) and got them in the oven. I was cleaning up my mess and putting chip clips on all the different kinds of flours I had to buy. Oh, lookie here, the Amaranth flour doesn’t need to be clipped, good…..no not good! I didn’t open it; I forget it in the recipe! I had just put the brownies in so I pulled them out to try and stir in the flour. And it actually worked! (I know, I was just as surprised as you are). So the brownies were done and I thought I would give a little taste to avoid the embarrassment of serving cardboard to people and I was pleasantly surprised. The brownies were awesome! They tasted just like normal human food. Success!
So, the next day Jeff and I started to cook up dinner. The Black Bean Casserole (Gretchen) is really good, really easy and very balanced (rice, beans, salsa, tomatoes, garlic, onion, green pepper, cheese, and sour cream). Jeff worked on the Tandoori Tofu and rice. I suggested he cut the tofu into cubes and Jeff wanted to do it in strips like chicken (chicken is in the original recipe). I thought that was a little silly as it isn’t chicken; Serena suggested triangles and the crisis was averted…triangles it is! This Tandoori spice rub is SPICY. The kind of spicy that is near unbearable but you can’t wait to go back for another bite. Dan mixed up the Margaritas (ignoring the low recommendation of tequila amount, which I appreciated) and we ate dinner, drank margs and played Wii. The night ended in a game of Cranium that Jeff and I lost miserably, “come on honey, that looks just like a tambourine”. We finished the night with the brownies topped with ice cream and fudge for dessert.