the spice of life...hot hot HOT

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Apparently, the average American eats fewer sweet potatoes in a year than I do in the average week or two....

As the frigidity continued today (a balmy -28C windchill this morning), I decided dinner needed to be blisteringly, searingly hot. Something to really warm a person up.

Despite their winter appeal (to me at least), sweet potatoes are actually a tropical crop - easy to grow, less environmental impact than many other crops, and a staple in places like Burundi, where their individual annual consumption is twice my body weight. And I tell ya, that's a lot of sweet potatoes.

And I learned my lesson last time I roasted 'em....poking sweet potatoes and roasting them in your oven leads to caramelized, burnt potato gunk on the bottom of said oven. This time I was smarter....I didn't poke them at all. :) And, contrary to what I thought they might do...no explosions. Nice. Aside from a bit of iris/cayenne interaction, I made it through unscathed. Oh, and chipotle peppers are spicy. I had no idea (never used them before). But, word to the wise, these guys pack a punch. Use sparingly, but enjoy thoroughly.

As decent as last night's dinner was, tonight's dinner totally kicked its ass. This was pure, spicy, pseudo-mexican perfection. Yum. It was sweet, it was spicy, it was acidic, had some crunch, creaminess.....everything a fabulous dinner ought to have.

Even better - it was also REALLY good for me. Another vegetarian success! Hubs and I have really been making an effort to eat less meat and more legumes.....and to work on eating more 'superfood'....it's working out really well.

The food is amazing, healthy, cheaper and flavourful. I don't know if I ever would have envisioned sweet potatoes in a burrito, but they totally rock.

I took a ton of inspiration from this recipe. I've made it as written before, but I like it a lot better with my own modifications. Don't get me wrong, it's not bad as is, but it rocks with a few tweaks. One of the biggest changes I make is to use small whole wheat tortillas.....I love the idea of a big old burrito....but if you look at the calories, a big tortilla has like 180 calories. And that's before you put anything in it. So eat two of those, and you're guaranteed like a 700-800 calorie dinner. The small tortillas have only 90 calories, so you can happily munch on a couple of 'em. :)

So..........with no further ado.........I give you....


Spicy Black Bean Sweet Potato Burritos

Bean Mixture:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups water
3 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
4 teaspoons prepared mustard
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
3 tablespoons soy sauce

Sweet Potato Mixture
4 medium sweet potatoes, cooked (I roasted them at 400F while I did yesterday's dishes....you could nuke them or boil them!)
3 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
1/4 c fresh coriander

12 (7 inch) whole wheat tortillas (warm them up if they are too hard to roll)
4 ounces shredded old Cheddar cheese
1-2 ounces grated parmesan

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Heat oil in a medium skillet, and saute onion and garlic until soft. Stir in beans and water, and heat until warm. Stir in the chili powder, cumin, mustard, cayenne pepper and soy sauce. Let this bubble away while you get the sweet potatoes ready.


2. Peel the potatoes (if you hadn't done so already) and place them in a large bowl. Mash away. Chop up the chipotle peppers (don't touch your eyes.....ouch!) and add them to the potatoes. It's good if some adobo sauce stays on them. Add the coriander and combine it all together.


3. Divide bean mixture and mashed sweet potatoes evenly between the tortillas. Roll the tortillas up (don't fold them, because you lose valuable stuffing space....it's all about the stuffing!) Place them on a greased baking sheet (or a silpat....can you tell I'm impressed/obsessed with mine?)


4. Top with cheese. Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven, and serve, topped with salsa and/or sour cream. I used spicy red salsa, mild green tomatillo salsa and light sour cream.



And MAN was it good. Very spicy (watch those chipotles!) but awesome. I LOVED how the tortillas crisped up....it was better than take-out.

I know it's totally not authentic.....but contrary to a lot of the folks on chowhound, I totally don't care. I'm all about enjoyment, and this rocked. SO satisfying. I need to make these little suckers more often.

Thanks for reading! :)