Friday Food: Sweet Potato, Squash, and Black Bean Enchiladas

By: Ashley Luedke

We received this one from a great source (Joel's sister) and it was served to someone you might classify as a "picky eater" and they were a hit.  Also they sound great and also don't skimp on the health side.  Give this one a try.

Makes 8 enchiladas or enough for 4 people

Enchilada Sauce

2 ¼ cups vegetable broth

1/3 cup tomato paste

2 ½ tablespoons chili powder

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 ½ teaspoons dried oregano

2 to 3 cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons soy sauce or tamari

1 tablespoon lime juice

Filling

1 large sweet potato (about 1 pound) chopped into nickel-size pieces

2 teaspoons olive oil

½ yellow onion chopped

1 medium yellow squash, grated on your box grater (about 1 cup)

1 teaspoon chili powder

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 ½ cups cooked black beans

1 teaspoon maple syrup or agave syrup

A pack of corn or flour tortillas

Sliced avocado

Chopped fresh cilantro

½ teaspoon of ground cumin

½ teaspoon salt

Directions

1.     Make the enchilada sauce, dump everything but the lime juice into a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer. Use a whisk or something and make sure that the tomato paste isn’t just sitting in a clump. Let that simmer together for 10 to 15 minutes so that the sauce has time to thicken up a little. Add the lime juice and turn off the heat. Let it cool while you make the filling.

2.     To cook the sweet potato, grab a medium saucepan, fill it with an inch or two of water and bring to a boil over medium heat. Throw in your metal steamer basket and fill that with the chopped sweet potato. Cover and steam until tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Dump into a bowl and smash the pieces around. Some chunks are fine, you don’t need to work too hard at making this smooth.

3.     While the sweet potato steams, grab a large skillet or wok and heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and saute: until it begin to brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Toss in the squash and cook for another minute. Add the chili powder, cumin, salt, garlic, and black beans. Cook together for another 2 minutes and then fold in the mashed sweet potato and maple syrup and turn off the hat. Mix until combined.

4.     Now you’re going to make the enchiladas. Crank your over to 375 degrees. Grab a 9x13 inch baking dish.

5.     Cover the bottom of the baking dish with about 1 ½ cups of enchilada sauce. Using a griddle, your over or the microwave, warm up the tortillas. Dip the tortilla around in a little of the sauce in the baking dish so that the bottom is all coated. Fill the tortilla with a couple of spoonfuls of filing, then roll it up and set it seam-side down in the dish. Keep going until you run out of space or out of filling.

6.     Cover the enchiladas with the remaining sauce, cover the dish tightly with foil, and throw it in the oven for 20 minutes. Take off the foil and cook it for 5 more minutes. Let it cool for a minute. Feel free top that masterpiece with some sliced avocado or chopped cilantro.