These tasty burritos were brought to my attention by Cindy who –having lent her copy of Dolce to a friend– needed me to read her the recipe over the phone recently. Anything with mashed yams has to be delicious, so I resolved to make them as soon as possible, which turned out to be only slightly longer than what was, in fact, possible but slightly inconvenient. Here is my modified version:
2 large yams
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 medium onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic
1 c. vegetable stock (or water)
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1 tsp. cumin powder
1 tsp. mustard seeds (or mustard powder)
1/2 tsp. salt
tortillas (I used large spinach ones, smaller ones might have been a better idea)
salsa
tofutti sour cream (optional, but delicious)
Peel, chop, boil and mash the yams. Fry the onion is some oil until soft (if you have mustard seeds add them to the oil first and let them pop before adding the onions), add the stock, garlic, beans, and powders. Mix well and simmer on medium-high heat until the liquid is gone (10ish minutes), stir occasionally. Add the salt and mash the mixture a bit with the potato masher.
Preheat the oven to 350F. Start filling the tortillas by placing some salsa down the middle, then some bean mash and mashed yams, roll it up and place in a large casserole dish. Repeat until you run out of stuff, this will depend on how full you make them, I managed to get 8 burritos when I tried and one is pretty mush a meal. Place the dish with all the burritos into the oven for about 10minutes, or until they crisp up… let cool and enjoy with some more salsa and some sour cream… yum!
I really enjoyed these, they were fast and satisfying. The yam goes amazingly well with the spicy bean mixture. These could easily be made into quesadillas instead, spread a thin layer of yam onto the whole tortilla and then a thin layer of bean mixture onto one half (quesadillas are all about keeping the filling minimal). Fold over the half with no bean mixture and fry in a little oil turning over when brown. The yam will act as a glue to keep the whole thing together… what cheese would traditionally do… but in a taster, healthier and more compassionate way ;) I personally love having the temperature contrast of hot quesadilla and cool salsa/sour cream so I never put it in when I’m making them, but you could if it suites you.
A note about burritos: Typically a burrito is a flour tortilla that has been completely wrapped around a filling, the tortilla is also pliable. So these don’t really fit, they seem a bit like enchiladas, except in that case the tortillas should have been smothered in a sauce before filling them, and then covered in one when baked. So it seems these are neither, or both, I’ll leave it as an exercise for the reader…
Hey Jon,
I made these for supper and they were great! I need to put some more onions in I think or try it with the mustard seeds as it needed a bit more kick. Definitely going in my recipe book.
John
[...] addition to any kitchen with kids!), which I won way-back-when from Megan and these fabulous Yam and Black Bean Burritos, which also freeze really well and Nate can’t get enough [...]