Sweet Potato and Black Bean Enchiladas

{Meatless Monday}

...even though it is not really Monday at all!

I got this recipe off one of my favorite vegetarian cooking blogs.... A Couple Cooks.

This was REALLY yummy.  Surprisingly yummy!   I bookmarked the recipe more out of curiosity than anything.  It was one of those times when I thought, "well, I like sweet potatoes....and I like black beans...but will I really want to eat them together??"  ; )

But, yes, oh yes, you want to eat them together!  This was a keeper and I can't wait to make it again.

Here's what you'll need:

2 medium to large sweet potatoes (3 cups diced)
15 oz. can black beans
8 ounces canned diced green chilies (about 1 cup)
1 medium red onion
½ tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon chili powder
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt
Fresh ground pepper
about 2 cups salsa verde (or homemade tomatillo salsa)
1 cup Colby jack cheese, shredded
8 whole wheat flour tortillas (or 10 6-inch)
Sour cream
Fresh cilantro, to garnish


Preheat the oven to 350°F.

 Peel and dice the sweet potato. Place in a pot and cover with water; add a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil and cook until tender, around 12 to 15 minutes. Drain and place in bowl.

Now to prepare the filling:  Finely chop the red onion. (I decided to saute my onion for about 5-7 minutes.  It helps my kids to eat them better!)

To Mix the Filling:  In a large bowl, combine the cooked sweet potato, drained black beans, red onion, green chilies, ½ tablespoon cumin, 1 tablespoon chili powder, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, ¼ to ½ teaspoon kosher salt, and fresh ground pepper. Mix to combine.

To make the enchiladas... In a large baking dish, spread ¾ to 1 cup of the salsa verde. Fill each tortilla with a heaping ½ cup scoop of the filling, add a handful of cheese, and roll it up. 

Place the enchilada seam-side down in the baking dish. Repeat for the remaining tortillas. When all enchiladas are in the dish, top with the remaining salsa verde (about ½ cup or so) and the remaining cheese.

Place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes, until the cheese is melted.

Serve, garnished with sour cream (mixed with a tiny bit of water to loosen it) and chopped cilantro, if desired. (I only had romaine lettuce, but sour cream & cilantro would be fabulous!) 

Cheese & Green Chile Enchiladas

{Meatless Monday}

This is another recipe that I tore out of a magazine long ago.  So long ago that I don't even remember which magazine.  It might have been a Rachel Ray.  My husband brought a couple of those home for me from his school last year.  ; )  But anyhoo....  My family is not often fans of corn tortillas, but in some recipes they just work...and this one worked!  Everyone loved them.  I made Cilantro Lime Rice to go with it.   This recipe is just like the one I use out of my cookbook from church.

Here's what you'll need to make these DELICIOUS enchiladas...

3/4 lb. monterey jack, shredded (about 3 cups)
2 cans (4 oz. each) diced green chiles, drained
1 cup sour cream  (I used light sour cream)
1 small yellow onion, grated
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
A handful of cilantro leaves, chopped and a few whole leaves for garnish
1 tsp. ground cumin
12 corn tortillas
thinly sliced red onions, for topping...if desired

Preheat oven to 425*.   In a medium bowl, combine the cheese, canned chiles, sour cream, onion, garlic, chopped cilantro and cumin.

Heat tortillas briefly in warm skillet.  Drop a few tablespoons of the cheese mixture onto each tortilla and roll up.  (You should use about 2/3 of the filling).  Arrange the enchiladas in a single layer in a casserole dish.  Cover with the remaining cheese mixture and bake until golden, about 15 minutes.  Top with red onion, cilantro, and even jalapeños, if you wish!!

Mexican Lasagna

{Meatless Monday}

Hawaii was amazing!!  I uploaded my favorite pictures onto my Facebook page.  It was so relaxing and wonderful.  We are finally getting back into regular life.

Here's a recipe we enjoyed a few weeks back.  It is a crock pot recipe...so you have to think ahead a little, but then all the work is done and you can go on with your day!  ; )

1 head cauliflower, chopped
3 plum tomatoes, chopped
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup frozen corn (I think I used one can, drained)
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
2 tsp. chili powder
2 tsp. cumin
3 1/2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese (or any mix you want)
1 16 oz. jar tomatillo salsa (couldn't find it anywhere...so I used a mild green chile enchilada sauce mixed with some homemade salsa)
6 flour tortillas
Sour cream (optional)

Combine in a bowl: cauliflower, tomatoes, beans, corn and cilantro.  Sprinkle with chili powder and cumin and stir to combine.

Spray crock pot with cooking spray.  Spread a scant 3 cups of cauliflower mixture over the bottom of crock pot, then sprinkle with 1 cup cheese and a generous 1/2 salsa.  Cover with 1-2 tortillas.

Repeat layering two more times.  Cut the last 1-2 tortillas into strips and scatter over top.

Cover and cook on HIGH for 3 hrs.  or  LOW for 5 1/2 hours.  Until cauliflower is tender.  Top with remaining cheese and cook another 20 minutes to melt cheese.  Let sit 10 minutes.  Scoop out and top with sour cream. 

I forgot to get a picture of the end result...but I don't think it would have been very photogenic.  It was definitely something you just scooped out of the crock pot with a big spoon.

I really liked this recipe...easy, quick, and a little different than what I've made before.  My husband doesn't love cauliflower...so it was not his favorite! ; )

Hope you all have a great week!

Gooey Enchiladas

{Meatless Monday}

I got this recipe from Parents magazine--in an article about healthy variations of family favorites.  We really liked it and it was super easy to make.  It actually called for 1/2 lb. of ground beef, but I substituted our Textured Vegetable Protein.  I am getting more used to it and starting to use it more often.  Lon cooked some up for our dinner last night, and when I got in the fridge this morning, I saw a whole bowl of pre-cooked TVP.  It is going to be so easy to just toss it into meals this week.  I thought that was a great idea to have it ready to go!

Here's what you need:

2 tsp olive oil
1 small yellw onion, chopped
1 Tbsp chopped garlic
1 14 oz can diced fire-roasted tomatoes
1/2 tsp. ground coriander (I didn't have this)
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
Pepper to taste
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 cup textured vegetable protein --in the little white ramekin    (We buy ours in bulk at the Health food store...we boil it in water with a little seasoning, but then when you throw it in your recipe, it just takes on the taste of the dish, like tofu.)
1 15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
NOTE:  I also added a can of corn at the last minute!
8 corn tortillas (I ended up filling about 11-12 tortillas with my mixture)
1 1/4 cup shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 350*.
Saute onion in oil for 5-7 minutes.  Add garlic and cook for 1 minute longer.  Add the tomatoes, coriander, cumin, oregano, and pepper; cook for a few minutes longer.  The finished sauce will be chunky.  Stir in cilantro.

Meanwhile, prepare TVP and drain.

                        This is what ours looks like.  The texture is like very small pieces of chicken.

Then stir in black beans and corn.  Warm the tortillas in oven for about 5 minutes to make them easier to roll.  Spread 1/2 cup sauce into 9X13 pan.  Divide bean mixture into all the tortillas and sprinkle with 3/4 cup of the cheese.  Roll each enchilada and place seam side down in dish.  Pour remaining sauce over the top and bake, uncovered, about 15 minutes.  Sprinkle on remaining 1/2 cup of cheese, and bake another 5 minutes until melted.

They were very delicious and had a very fresh flavor with the cilantro.  I am excited to have an enchilada variation to put in my rotation!

Grilled Stuffed Burritos

{Meatless Monday}

OK....just a really quick and easy dinner idea this week.

This is basically Spanish Rice, refried beans and cheese in a tortilla...rolled up and briefly browned on both sides in a skillet.

I just cooked the rice according to directions and heated up the vegetarian refried beans with a little (1/4-1/3 of can) tomato sauce and taco seasoning.  Layer rice, beans, cheese in tortilla.  Wrap up and brown on both sides in hot skillet.  Serve with sour cream, olives, and/or shredded lettuce as toppings.

I was out of sour cream and only had Spinach...so ours were just plain jane:

But they still tasted really good.  And since they are NOT crammed full of vegetables it was an uncharacteristically peaceful night at the dinner table!  ; )

SUPER Simple Mexican Haystacks

{Meatless Monday}

I thought it would be a good idea to share some REALLY simple vegetarian meals...those ones that you throw together in 10 minutes and eat before you rush out the door. This is one that we do a lot. There are A LOT of variations on this, but this is the basic recipe. These are the ingredients:




These are staples in our pantry: Nalley's Vegetarian Chili and Vegetarian Refried Beans. (One easy way to eat less meat is to look for vegetarian varieties of the things you already buy.) They are both delicious and useful in many quick meals on those busy nights. These are always on the same sales as the regular chili and beans and I don't notice that they taste any different. I will admit that we aren't big chili fans, so we don't eat this much by itself. It is always mixed up with other things. Another big bonus is that the vegetarian stuff often has MUCH less fat!

For these haystacks, I mix the chili and beans together and we put it over rice (I had about 6 cups of leftover rice that needed to be used!) and then we put cheese and chips on top. The funny thing was that I thought I had sour cream...so I put it in the picture. And then when I opened it up, it was actually our leftover fruit dip from the 4th of July!! We normally have sour cream and black olives as toppings also. You could do onions also if you wanted.




There is NO meal faster than this, all my kids love it, and it is super cheap!

Another way I serve this (that is almost vegetarian ; ) is with a 4-can mix of Vegetarian Chili, Vegetarian Refried Beans, Pork and Beans, and Black Beans. We use this mix over rice and cornbread ALL the time. I know that the Pork and Beans sounds kind of weird, but it gives it a sweeter flavor.

This coming week, I am going to try a Black Bean Burger recipe that a friend emailed me...so I'll post the results next Monday! Have a great week!