Yes, there was that sweet potato – rivaling in size the watermelons of summer. Huge! What to do with it? In our house, the answer is, divide it up. I cut mine into thirds. One third went into sweet potato burritos (recipe below). One third will get cubed and roasted with sweet spices for another dinner, and the last third is going into this African Chickpea Soup because cooler temperatures are coming, right?
Adapted from Alexandracooks.com
Ingredients:
For the sweet potato filling: 1 1/2 cups finely chopped onion 2 garlic cloves, minced 3 to 4 tablespoons neutral oil such as olive, grapeseed or canola 4 cups grated peeled sweet potato 1 teaspoon chili powder 1 to 2 teaspoons ground cumin generous pinch of cayenne salt and ground black pepper to taste a cup or more of finely minced cilantro fresh lime juice to taste For assembly: 6 burrito-sized tortillas sweet potato filling 1.5 cups cooked black beans Boston lettuce or other grated Cheddar or Monterey Jack to taste sour cream to taste fresh lime to taste
Preparation:
Make the sweet potato filling: In a large sauté pan set over medium heat, sauté the onions and garlic in 3 tablespoons of the oil until the onions are translucent. Add the grated sweet potatoes, chili powder, cumin and cayenne and cook, covered — covering is important to prevent sticking — for about 8-10 minutes, stirring every few minutes to ensure it’s not sticking or burning. When the sweet potato is tender, add salt and pepper to taste and remove the filling from the heat. Stir in the cilantro. Squeeze 1/2 a lime over the sweet potatoes, mix, taste, and adjust with more lime and salt to taste until it tastes nicely seasoned.
Assemble the burritos. Gather all of your ingredients. I like to warm up my beans in a small skillet, and if my sweet potato filling has been refrigerated, I like to warm that up, too. I also like to quickly warm up my tortillas (30 seconds) in a large, dry skillet.