Veg*n Cooking and Other Random Musings: Quesadillas de Frijoles Negros, Batata, y Seta (Black Bean, Sweet Potato, and Mushroom Quesadillas)

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Quesadillas de Frijoles Negros, Batata, y Seta (Black Bean, Sweet Potato, and Mushroom Quesadillas)

Wahoo for sweet potatoes being in season! Sweet potatoes, like mushrooms and olives, are a food that I have only enjoyed since going vegetarian - Brett has always loved them. Do we ever enjoy them now though! They are incredibly versatile, easy to work with, and have I mentioned delicious?

I don't know about anyone else, but we love sweet potatoes in Mexican food. I can't speak for Brett on this one, but I also love sweet potatoes in spicy Mexican food. They work great in quesadillas, who needs cheese? In fact, both Brett and I agree that putting cheese and sweet potatoes together just sounds plain gross any way. So I guess this, and most of the other things I try to pass off as a "quesadilla" aren't really since there is no cheese in most of them - real or fake. I just don't know what else to call a folded over stuffed tortilla - so alas, my poor attempts at a Spanish translation and the misnomer "quesadilla" is what you all have to settle for.

But you guys do get a picture and a yummy recipe, so perhaps my minor indiscretions aren't so bad after all, eh? ;-)

Just a reminder of the produce legend:
no asterisk = grocery store
* = farmer's market
** = CSA
*** = Container or Community Garden















Quesadillas de Frijoles Negros, Batata, y Seta
1 large sweet potato, roasted *
chipotle chili powder
cinnamon

1 cup black beans, cooked
1/2 cup long grain brown rice, cooked
2 cups white button mushrooms, sliced
1 bell pepper, seeded and minced **
1 habanero pepper, seeded and minced *
1 spicy mystery pepper from our CSA, seeded and minced (jalapeno, serranos, or another habanero would work just fine) **
4 cloves of garlic, minced *
1/2 a yellow onion, minced *
1 large tomato, chopped **
1/4 cup salsa
cumin
ground coriander
Mexican oregano
white pepper
salt

tortillas
Green Chile Taco Sauce (*, **, and ***)

After sweet potato is baked, remove flesh from the skin and mash with chipotle chili powder and cinnamon. Set aside.

Meanwhile, heat a few tablespoons of water in a large skillet. Add the mushrooms, peppers, garlic, and onion and cook for 10-15 minutes.

Add the beans, rice, tomatoes, salsa and spices and simmer for about 10 minutes.

Layer sweet potatoes and bean/rice/veggie mixture in warmed tortillas and fry if desired.

Serve with Green Chile Taco Sauce (or other spicy thin salsa).

Yummy, local, healthy, and veg*n. Wahoo!

'Til next time!

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh Jennifer your Sin-Quesadillas are making my mouth water! I'm not really sure what I'd call a quesadilla sin queso - a quasidilla? :)

Bianca said...

I love black bean and sweet potato quesadillas! I'll have to add mushrooms next time.

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

Sweet potatoes being in season = a true blessing.

Love the dish, as always!!

Anonymous said...

Black beans and sweet potatoes are a match made in heaven if you ask me! These sound great!

Courtney

Lisa (Show Me Vegan) said...

Mmm... i love the combo of sweet potatoes and chipotle! BTW, a friend gave us Holy Mole peppers from his garden, which I think are pasilla peppers. They smell quite mild. I was thinking of roasting and peeling and putting them in salsa of pepper strips. Any suggestions?

Laura said...

sweet potaotes are probably my favorite thing ever!! and i love pairing them with black beans, too! great minds think alike!

Kale for Sale said...

I can't wait to make sweet potato and bean quesadillas or burritos or something as long as there are chiles too. Sweet potatoes aren't quite in season here yet but it won't be long. Have you tried this recipe with winter squash, a kabucha (sp?) or butternut? There's a Mexican restaurant we love that makes squash burritos with beans, onions and peppers. They're killer.

Anonymous said...

I've never eaten sweet potatoes before I became vegan. I am very glad that I have discovered so many great new vegetables and other foods since going vegan.
Oh and I've never made quesadillas. I have to start with your recipe!
P.S. I moved my blog to wordpress, please come and visit me :)

J said...

Shellyfish - Hahahahah, I love it "quasidilla" that is too funny! I might have to either start calling them that or Sin-Queso-Dillas. :-)

Bianca - Me too, it is a wonderful combination, I have so many ideas for flavor combinations and other additions to make this pairing even better. You should try using mushrooms, they are a great addition.

Veggie Girl - I concur!

Courtney - They really are, I would have never thought so a few years ago. Boy was I missing out!

Lisa - Thanks. It took the sweet potatoes to a different level.

I'm not quite sure I follow, but I do think the peppers would make an excellent salsa. If you were saying that you wanted to serve salsa on pepper strips, if you like raw peppers, then this would be another option I suppose. I imagine they would be great in a taco or enchilada sauce too. Pasillas are so similar in flavor and texture to Anaheim's that they can be used interchangeably.

Laura - Me too, I love 'em! Must be so, must be so. ;-)

Kale for Sale - Well of course, chiles are a must! We use butternut in some of our Mexican recipes, but I never thought to mash butternut or perhaps delicata to use it as I would sweet potatoes. Thanks for the excellent idea. And I'm with you, if you add the beans, onions, and peppers, I'm in! I think I might try your squash idea soon, especially with them being so abundant in my closet (butternuts) and the farmer's market (delicata, acorn, amongst others). If it turns out, I'll have to dedicate the recipe to you for the excellent idea!

Mihl (Seitan is My Motor) - I had eaten them a few times, but never liked them before I went veg. Now I can't get enough. I think I'm going to make mashed sweet potatoes sometime soon. Comfort food sounds good right now with fall coming on strong.

They aren't too special, just filling in a folded over tortillas. Haha, well if you try 'em, I hope you like 'em.

Gotcha. I've changed it on my blogroll and on my Google Reader - thanks for the heads up.

jessy said...

yummy, healthy, local, and veg*n = superawesomeface! yay!

man, i still have yet to use sweet potato in some mexican goodness! what's wrong with me! i'm glad they're in season - now i'm going to have to grab some at our local natural foods store and try them in a quesadilla, too! mmmmmmm! and with black beans and mushrooms - damn, Jennifer! you make the best yummies!

Lindsay (Happy Herbivore) said...

viva la sweet potatoes! Now that they're coming back I will be eating all your smashed yam burrito variations :) and this one is definatly on the agenda!

Catherine Weber said...

Mmmm . . . I LOVE sweet potatoes, too! I'm going to make some sweet potato soup this weekend, hopefully. :) My favorite homemade cheating dinner is a baked sweet potato topped with black beans, salsa, either sauteed greens or steamed broccoli, and melted mozzarella cheese. MMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!

Unknown said...

well... dang it! i knew i should have bought those sweet potatoes at the market yesterday!

maybe next week.

J said...

Jessy - :-)

You should really use them in Mexican, they rock! I'm happy they are finally back in season as well, as much as I love the abundance of summer, I DO miss the sweet potatoes.

Aw, thank you. Right back at 'ya!

Lindsay (HH) - Hear hear! Well you have plenty to choose from, I imagine there are more to follow.

Catherine - Me too. Sweet potato soup?! I hope you post the recipe that sounds great! That is an awesome "cheater" dinner, I may do a "double cheat" and steal your idea for a quick meal.

Selina - Hahahaha! There IS always next week. I need to pick up some more sweet potatoes myself at the market this weekend...

DP Nguyen said...

That goes look delicious! What a unique combination.

J said...

Dp Nguyen - Thanks. Sweet potatoes + black beans + tortillas = Mexican vegetarian yumminess!