Friday, February 01, 2008

RECIPE ~ Spicy Sweet Potato Burritos


I wish I could remember who gave me this recipe, because it's so good! Make them for a lunch to go, or serve for dinner with a side salad, and even with some fancy Mexican rice! Quick to make, it took me less than half an hour to prepare from start to finish.


1 tsp oil
1 onion, finely chopped
3 or 4 cloves garlic, minced
1 can of kidney or aduki beans, drained
1 cup water or (low-salt) broth
2 Tbsp chili powder or (smoked) paprika
2 tsp mustard (seeds or prepared)
2 tsp ground cumin
2 Tbsp light soy sauce or Bragg Liquid Aminos
2 Tbsp tomato sauce or ketchup
10" soft whole-wheat tortillas
1 sweet potato, cooked & mashed with olive oil, garlic, cilantro, salt and pepper

GARNISH OPTIONS
thinly sliced avocado
guacamole
fresh made salsa (or from a jar)
sour cream (dairy or soy)
chopped fresh cilantro
chopped green onion
chopped black olives


Heat oil in a large pan over medium heat. Saute onion in oil until transparent. Add garlic and stir. Stir in chili powder, mustard and cumin, then add beans and water/stock. Simmer, stirring, until beans are soft and most of the liquids are absorbed, about 5 minutes. Stir in soy sauce or Bragg. If you like, you can mash the beans in the pot, or leave chunky. Taste and adjust seasoning if desired (maybe a sprinkle of thyme or ground black pepper would be nice?).

Preheat oven to 375F. Spread a generous layer of the sweet potato mixture, then top with the beans. (*See Note below.) Roll up burrito, folding edges in from all 4 sides to cover filling (see diagram).

Repeat with remaining tortillas, bean mixture and sweet potato. Place burritos seam side down on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until burritos are crisp (it's extra nice if you brush a layer of olive oil on the tops of the burritos before baking, to make them come out golden crispy).

Serve garnished with toppings of your choice and a nice salad! Makes about 4-6 burritos, depending on amount of filling.

*NOTE: For a burrito to-go, skip the oven baking. At this point, add the filling in a long and thin formation, and add the garnishes as part of the filling. Then simply roll up the burritos by folding up the bottom flap, then the left flap, then roll towards the right leaving the top open. Wrap the bottom half with wax paper or a napkin and you're good to go!

FOR INDIVIDUAL DOSHAS
VATAS a great Vata meal! Replace kidney beans with aduki beans; replace sour cream with plain yogurt
PITTAS reduce onion, garlic, chili powder, mustard, cumin and green onion to minimal amounts; replace sour cream with plain yogurt; avoid tomato (salsa)
KAPHAS replace sweet potato with yam (or white potato); replace kidney beans with aduki beans; if possible use large corn tortillas or other non-wheat tortillas; avoid avocado and use plain yogurt instead of sour cream.

8 comments:

John Newman said...

Very cool! A recipe that I can follow all the kapha directions by choice! I hate avacados. Once again, you've inspired me, Fran!

Anonymous said...

I love the little illustration on how to fold burritos. :-)

Claudia Davila (Fran) said...

Glad to hear it, John! :-)

And thanks, tracker -- I love adding little diagrams and images whenever possible!

Anonymous said...

Hi Fran,

Could black beans be used in place of kidney? Thanks!

-Katharine

Claudia Davila (Fran) said...

Hi Katharine,

Aduki beans have the highest protein of all the beans, so it's the best choice, but black beans are great too, especially for Pittas and Kaphas (too airy for Vatas). :-)

mega said...

i love this recipe so much! My suggestion for sides is Greek Strained Yogurt. I love a little added acidophilus.

Anonymous said...

This recipe turned out well. It's so easy to make too. I'm vata/kapha and the burritto was such comfort food, yet healthy. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

I couldn't find the beans called for in the recipe so I used pinto.