Sweet Potato Black Bean Enchiladas

Karina's Sweet Potato Black Bean Enchiladas

This award winning budget-friendly vegetarian enchilada recipe is one of those happy accidents that spring from a burst of creative inspiration. I was craving the soft and spicy comfort of enchiladas one windy spring night back in 2003, and I had none of the usual suspects on hand (no chicken, or beef, no pinto beans).

But I had one lovely mother of a sweet potato.

I had a can of organic black beans in the pantry.

Some roasted green chiles.

One lonely lime.

And your intrepid Mamacita at large thought, Hmmm. Why not?

Deliciousness ensued.

These wrapped little gems are soft and creamy and a little bit spicy- just like a certain cook, my point-scoring husband wisecracks. It's the yams, I tell him. Er, sweet potato. I can never tell the difference. In the end, it doesn't matter.

What matters is how it tastes.

And Babycakes, these are so very mucho scrumptious. Seriously. I kid you not. Make a batch for a girls' night in, or a laid back Sunday brunch.

Or dazzle a vegetarian on Meatless Monday.


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Gluten-Free Turkey & Sweet Potato Enchiladas

Gluten-free turkey and sweet potato enchiladas.

Enchiladas, Family Style 

This Friday is just like any other out here in the New Mexico hinterland. There were big-eared rabbits eating breakfast (nibbling spare tufts of grass). A chickadee or two in the junipers. Pink light on the distant mesas. And as far as I know, no scary crush of shoppers at the Espanola Walmart. At least I haven't heard any sirens off in the distance. Truth be told I haven't budged from my casita (and I have no plans to). Nope. It's just another day here, call it what you want. Black Friday is quiet as an empty nest. So I thought I'd share a recipe for leftover turkey and sweet potatoes- a surprisingly tasty combo.

As always, make it as mild or as spicy as your little heart desires.

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Karina's Enchiladas Win the Whole Foods Budget Recipe Challenge

Enchiladas photo courtesy Whole Foods Market © 2008

I am very excited to announce that my recipe for Sweet Potato Black Bean Enchiladas has won the Whole Foods Market Budget Recipe Challenge. A hearty thank you to all who voted for the recipe- and highlighted this gluten-free vegetarian entry.

I am overwhelmed by the support. Over 1,300 of you took the time to vote! And I appreciate it with all my heart.

Congrats to the other talented finalists who participated with their mouthwatering array of unique dishes- Jaden of Steamy Kitchen, Rachel of Coconut & Lime, Hannah of Bittersweet, Michael of Cooking for Engineers and of Katy of Sugar Laws. Your recipes rocked.

Here is the winning recipe on Gluten-Free Goddess:

Sweet Potato Black Bean Enchiladas

Visit the Whole Foods Market Blog

Gluten-Free Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas

Fabulous Chicken Enchiladas

Yummy. Easy. Chicken enchiladas. I never tire of them. And I'm not alone. My chicken enchilada recipes are among the most popular recipes on the blog. It's understandable. Enchiladas make a perfect make-ahead recipe for a weeknight supper or a pot luck gathering. And they are easily gluten-free. Make enchiladas earlier in the day- and dinner is done.

As easy as uno, dos, tres.

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Gluten-Free Enchilada Bake: Roasted Green Chile and Cream Cheese

Gluten-free tortilla bake with cream cheese and green chiles.

Planted on the coast of Cape Cod for years (forever, it seemed, on gloomy January days blanketed in gray) I daydreamed about fire roasted chiles. The smoky pepper sweetness that flirted with your senses as you walked in Santa Fe. The luxury of buying bags of freshly roasted chiles by the roadside- still warm,  soft as butter, and charred. In fact, I may have moved here for the chiles alone.

That's entirely possible.

I may have been so drop dead in love with chiles when we bought this casita that I didn't notice I'd be stuck out in the desert with so few neighbors. No bookstore, no cafe- no movie theater. What was I thinking? Only my analyst knows for sure (if she remembers me; it's been years since Jungian analysis).

Along with dreaming of Val Kilmer (not the rock scrambling Thunderheart Val, the seasoned, voluptuous new Mega Val- and why he showed up in my dream, I've no clue- better ask my analyst about that, too) I've been craving roasted green chile this month like mad as we approach our second anniversary of moving to New Mexico. 

And wouldn't you know it! I'm out of last year's roadside bags of chiles. 

They're long gone (my freezer is annoyingly, shall we say, petite). Until roasting season starts I have to settle with buying frozen Bueno chiles. And they're not bad, exactly. They are pretty dang good.

Yet, as I sit and crave and daydream, the big question becomes: Do I really still want to be here in August when chile roasting begins? Is my chile love a devoted, true love, or simply an infatuation? A passing fancy? Will your intrepid dusty goddess remain here in the coyote hills of O'Keeffe country or soon be walking Venice Beach in her Rocket Dogs?

I tell myself, just breathe.

There are Bueno chiles to defrost.

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A Trio of Tasty Turkey Recipes- Gluten-Free

Here are three delicious ways to use up leftover gluten-free turkey. One retro classic, Tetrazzini style, with brown rice noodles. One fabulous southwestern style enchilada recipe that has leftover turkey flirting with sweet potatoes. And last but always fabulous, our easy family favorite- turkey nachos with jalapenos and blue corn chips.

Gluten-free turkey tetrazzini- a retro classic, updated.

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Vegetarian Enchiladas Griegos with Spinach + Feta

Rain clouds above the mesa, toward Abiquiu.

Today is our anniversary. 

It is raining here in the high desert. Cloud cover blankets the mesa in a soft dove gray that is flirting with lavender. We married in this weather twelve years ago, sprinting through Cape Cod wind and mist to reach the antique door of our local Justice of the Peace without getting wet, the four of us stepping over the threshold to become a family.

Me and my three men- my love and my two sons.

I look at the photographs taken by the Justice's husband, our single witness. We are so young, all of us. Arms linking. There is palpable tenderness.

The boys are now men. They stand taller than my five-foot-eight. My husband and I, well. We are wiser. And weathered. And we remain expectant. This has been a year of enormous change.

We have sold most of our belongings (keeping our favorite books and paintings) and moved west. From the eastern shore to the high desert. From what was predictable and safe to what is unknown. What is possible. What might be.

After thirteen years together we are still exploring, still traveling, still on our way to somewhere. We are painting less and writing more. We are listening to each other with deeper affection, having shed many old expectations. We have come through a lot this year, on many levels. And so have our sons. Their own lives have not stood still. They too have faced changes and embraced risk.

I look out the window of my studio and exhale. I say a silent prayer for twelve more years. And twelve more years.

And twelve more years.

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