Sweet Potato and Bean Burrito
Tortillas can be filled with a seemingly infinite combination of ingredients—making them both healthy and ideal for using up "on-hand" ingredients. The on-hand ingredients in this dish are sweet potatoes and black beans. Although not often seen, the sweetness of the potatoes and the spiciness of the hot sauce, combine well in this bean burrito. We do not add cheese, keeping the burrito low-fat yet full of flavor (not to mention vitamins!). Originally served as part of: A Burrito Before Vacation.
- Potato and Squash Burrito (September 11, 2004)
- Black Bean Burritos (January 4, 2002)
Ingredients
- 8 ounces 2 medium sweet potatoes
- ½ tablespoon olive oil
- ½ medium yellow onion
- ½ cup green bell pepper (chopped)
- 1 clove garlic
- coarse salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons mix of New Mexico chile and Chipotle chile, ground chile powder
- 1¼ cups canned black beans (drained and rinsed)
- 1 navel orange (rinsed)
- 2 leaves fresh sage (cleaned)
- 1 teaspoon Chipotle hot sauce (Tabasco)
- 3 flour, chile tortillas
- fresh cilantro (cleaned)
Instructions
We start by cooking the sweet potatoes. After rinsing them and drying them with paper towels, we prick each with a fork. The sweet potatoes are wrapped in clean paper towels, placed on a microwave-safe plate and cooked on the "Potato" setting of our microwave. They are fork tender in a few minutes.
The cooked potatoes are peeled with a paring knife and chopped, yielding about 1 cup.
In a medium pot, we start to heat the oil over low heat. The onion is peeled and chopped, yielding ½ cup. It is added to the pot and the heat raised to medium. After a few minutes, we stir and add the green pepper.
We smash the clove of garlic (carefully!) with the side of our chef knife, discarding the peel. We sprinkle the salt on to the garlic and mince. When the onion and pepper are tender, we stir in the garlic. After another minute, we add the cumin and chile powders and stir well. The heat is lowered to medium-low.
The chopped sweet potatoes are added, smooshing them down with a spoon and stirring them in to combine them with the vegetables and spices.
Next, we stir in the black beans. Using the microplane, the zest of the orange is added. With kitchen scissors, we cut and add the sage leaves directly to the pot. We also stir in the Chipotle hot sauce.
The mixture is cooked a few more minutes to meld the flavors.
The tortillas are wrapped in a damp paper towel and heated in the microwave for 30 seconds. Meanwhile, we add the juice of the orange to the black bean and sweet potato mixture.
We fill each tortilla, adding cilantro and additional hot sauce as desired.
Ingredients
- 8 oz sweet potatoes (2 medium)
- ½ tbsp olive oil
- ½ medium yellow onion (chopped, ½ cup)
- ½ cup green bell pepper (chopped)
- 1 clove garlic (minced with coarse salt)
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp ground New Mexico and chipotle chile
- 1¼ cups canned black beans (drained and rinsed)
- 1 navel orange
- 2 leaves fresh sage
- 1 tsp chipotle hot sauce (Tabasco)
- 3 chile flour tortillas
- fresh cilantro
Instructions
What's a kid job?
A Kid job is a step kids can help with, with a grown-up nearby, not one they do on their own. Every kid is different, so go by what your child can do rather than by age. Roughly:
- Little ones (about 2 to 4) can stir, pour in ingredients a grown-up has measured, tear lettuce, wash vegetables and sprinkle toppings.
- Older kids (about 5 to 8) can also measure and level, crack eggs, whisk, roll and cut out dough, and put things together.
- Bigger kids can read the recipe aloud, keep track of the timer, and take on more of the cooking as they're ready.
Steps with a knife, microplane, skewers, stove, oven, grill or hot oil, or with raw meat, poultry or seafood, are marked Grown-up. Kids can still watch those, from a safe distance.
Prick the sweet potatoes with a fork, wrap them in paper towels, and microwave on the “Potato” setting a few minutes, until fork-tender. Peel and chop (about 1 cup).
Heat the oil in a medium pot over low, add the onion, and raise the heat to medium. After a few minutes, add the pepper. When tender, stir in the garlic for 1 minute, then the chile powders and cumin. Lower to medium-low.
Stir in the sweet potatoes, mashing them a little with a spoon, then the beans.
Grown-up
Zest the orange into the pot on the microplane, snip in the sage with scissors, and add the hot sauce. Cook a few minutes more.
Kid job
Warm the tortillas in a damp paper towel 30 seconds. Squeeze the orange juice into the filling, then fill each tortilla and add cilantro and more hot sauce to taste.