Rerun: Sweet Potato and Black Bean Enchiladas

I needed to be working on a story this afternoon, but honestly, all I could think about was how the sinus drainage from my allergies might make me gag at any moment.

When I wasn’t thinking about the drainage, I was thinking about how the decongestants made my head feel like it was slightly detached from my body. Remember those cold medicine commercials where people’s heads turned into balloons and floated off their bodies? Well that’s how I felt.

Not to be complain-y (OK so that’s exactly what I’m doing), but my day started off poorly to begin with. I was on my way to work this morning when a car suddenly pulls from a dead stop out of the left-hand turn lane in my lane, which was a straight lane. No biggie, right? After my car accident in September when an uninsured driver (minus valid license, of course) changed lanes into my car without looking, I now expect people to make last minute lane changes without warning and without paying attention.

She then pulled up to the stop bar and stopped even though we had a green light. And it's not like it had just turned green. It was green before she even changed lanes. I guess changing from a turn lane with a red light to a straight lane with a green light confused her? So I honked.. long and loudly.. and yet, she didn’t move, forcing me to also stop. I was just about to go around her when the light turned red.

She was on her cell phone. That’s my pet peeve. People will go on and on for days about how they talk on their phones while driving and how they’re a safe driver and they’re not any more distracted than talking to a passenger, etc. No doubt she was in that camp. But there she was yakking away on her phone, oblivious to the color of the traffic light. She was lucky I pay attention when I drive. I know quite a few people who probably would have rear-ended her.

The whole event put me in a rotten mood.

Anyways…I’m stepping off my soapbox now and on to my eats. My dinner last night was not successful and wasn’t very good so it made for an equally unsuccessful and unappetizing lunch. That led me to inhale sandwich cookies from the vending machine AND a Larabar this afternoon.

Ugh.

Tonight’s dinner was a rerun of these black bean and sweet potato enchiladas that were every bit as good as I remember them being. I opened a can of black beans for my favorite southwestern salad this weekend and was left with more than half a can. This was the best way I could think of to use up the remainder.


The side view... get a look at that filling.

Serious deliciousness.


I cheat. No roasted chili sauce for me — it’s jarred salsa all the way.

The original recipe came from a gluten-free blog so it called for special gluten-free ingredients and included a homemade a roasted chili sauce. So naturally I adapted it to my lazy cooking style and used jarred salsa verde. It may not be roasted chiles, but it at least it’s still green.

After dinner, my throat was still sore and my head still pounding so before I knew it I was stuffing this generic knock-off of a Weight Watchers’ giant fudge bar in my mouth. I had a love/hate relationship with these. I love them because they’re fudgy goodness but hate them because they’re really just corn syrup and polydextrose (aka faux fiber). I don’t qualify them as a real food since ice cream does not have 5 grams of fiber, but occasionally I give in.

It wasn’t a day for model eating, but oh well. There’s always tomorrow.

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Enchiladas
Adapated from Karina's Kitchen Serves 4.

15 ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
4 cloves garlic, minced
Juice from 1 lime
2 heaping cups cooked sweet potatoes, smashed
4 ounce can diced green chiles
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
salt and black pepper, to taste
Salsa verde
8 small corn tortillas
shredded cheese monterey jack or pepper jack cheese
chopped fresh cilantro

Preheat oven to 350°.

In a medium bowl combine the black beans, smashed sweet potatoes, green chiles, cumin, chili powder, salt and black pepper.

Spread a little bit of the salsa in the bottom of 9x13 inch glass baking dish. Warm the tortillas according to package directions. Once warm fill a tortilla with about 2 tbsp of filling and roll it up. Place in the dish, seam side down and repeat until all the tortillas and filling are used.

Top enchiladas with more salsa and shredded cheese (amounts are up to you) and bake 20-25 minutes until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbly. Serve garnished with fresh cilantro.