black bean

Sweet Potato Enchiladas

~ lk529 ~ 5 Comments

Mexican Monday has taken a serious hit this year. The league that I bowl on happens on Monday nights and while I don’t bowl every week it’s often enough that our traditional dinner gets switched around or even skipped.

The enchiladas I’m sharing with you today are a meatless variety – perfect for a Friday during this Lenten period. Which is when I made them. If you want to add some meat to these be my guest; cooked shredded pork or chicken would be great. The meat isn’t missed though.

There are some changes I would make though. The sweet potato is cubed instead of mashed, which provides body and meatiness to the filling, but I struggled with the texture. Next time, I’ll mash the sweet potato and add some Mexican rice to the filling to add some more substance.

Sweet Potato Enchiladas

Ingredients:

  • 1 large sweet potato
  • 1/2 C corn & black bean salsa (I used Kroger brand)
  • 2 C shreded Mexican blend cheese, divided use
  • 2 C red enchilada sauce
  • 8 flour tortillas

Steps:

  1. Microwave potato for 10 minutes. Allow to cool and remove the skin. Cube or mash as desired.
  2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  3. Mix sweet potato with salsa and 1 1/2 C of cheese.
  4. Pour half of the enchilada sauce in the bottom of a casserole dish.
  5. Assemble enchiladas: Place about 1/3 C of the sweet potato filling into each tortilla, roll, and place seam side down in the prepared casserole dish.
  6. Top enchiladas with remaining enchilada sauce and cheese. Bake 20 minutes, or until bubbly and golden.

*This recipe is adapted from Averie at http://www.averiecooks.com/2014/06/sweet-potato-corn-and-black-bean-enchiladas.html*

Sweet Potato Enchiladas | Sew You Think You Can Cook

Hummus Tostadas

~ lk529 ~ Leave a comment

A couple of weekends ago we went to the Destin Harbor Farmer’s Market. It was a small market with some beautiful selections. I love going to farmer’s markets because my “artistic” camera self comes out. The vibrancy of fresh produce makes me happy and I love taking close ups of the fruits on display.

Destin Harbor Farmer's Market

It was sweat-dripping hot that morning, and one of the venders definitely profited from the weather. Her Swell Pops hit the spot. Stuart got the Vanilla Bean and I enjoyed a Strawberry Balsamic.

Swell Pops

Across the way was The Greek Gourmet selling homemade hummus. Hummus is one of my go-to afternoon snacks, but I’ve never tried making my own. (Yes, I am aware it’s simple to do and it’s on my culinary bucket list.) There were great flavor options and we walked away with two containers! Original, which features a nice kick of garlic, and Spicy Black Bean.

What does all of this have to do with Mexican Monday? I’ll give you a hint. Read the last three words of the above paragraph.

We used this Spicy Black Bean Hummus in place of refried beans in making tostadas. And it worked beautifully. This hummus gets its kick from jalapenos. Because I knew the hummus was spicy I opted for a mellow protein to top our tostadas. I pulled out the crockpot, seasoned chicken with S+P, and dumped in some Rotel and cream cheese. We shredded it and enjoyed our Mexican Monday on Tostada Tuesday (I forget what was happening on Monday that required a postponement of our Mexican dinner.)

I appologize that we don’t have photos of this meal (sometimes hunger wins out), but next time you’re thinking of tostadas, get creative with your toppings! You could even turn them completely Greek and use original hummus with more classic Greek toppings – like olives, feta, and grilled squash.

Eating the Bible: Iron Men

~ lk529 ~ 3 Comments

Tonight’s recipe and accompanying bible verse come from The Book of Deuteronomy.

It is a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity – where you will not lack for anything; a land whose stones are iron, and from whose mountains you will quarry copper. Deuteronomy 8:9

Rena references the Babylonian Talmud during her bible study. It suggests that the reference to “stones of iron” is a metaphor for those who will build the land. According to the Talmud “any scholar who is not as tough as iron is not a scholar.” Those building Israel are its scholars – requiring a strong will and a strong faith.

It is important to remember during the journey of Lent to be “tough as iron” in keeping your Lenten promise, in resisting temptation, and in enriching your belief.

To accompany a verse on iron, Rena created a black bean soup as black beans are rich in iron. I halved her recipe as I only need to feed two of us. If you want to make this a completely vegetarian one-pot dinner simply substitute vegetable stock in place of the chicken stock. Rena suggests pureeing the soup to a desired consistency, I omitted this step.

Black Bean Soup

Ingredients:

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 large onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 tbsp cumin
  • 1 can (15 oz) black beans, undrained
  • 1 can (15 oz) stewed tomatoes, undrained
  • 1 1/4 C chicken broth

Steps:

  1. In a pot saute onion and garlic in olive oil over medium-high heat. Season with salt, pepper, and cumin. Cook until onion is tender. Add beans, tomatoes, and broth. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer for 30 minutes.
  2. Serve with crusty bread. And provide shredded cheddar cheese and sour cream for topping, if desired.

*This recipe is adapted from Eating the Bible by Rena Rossner*

Black Bean Soup

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