Sweet Potato, Squash, and Black Bean Enchiladas – Thug Kitchen

So it seems we’re on a Mexican food kick recently. We have also started receiving a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) box, which is a weekly delivery of seasonal fruits and veggies.

So far, we’ve really been loving having local, organic products readily available at home for weekday cooking. The particular service we use  (Farm Fresh to You) also allows us  to add and remove items based on what we want each week.

If you want to check it out, you can use this code for a sweet discount on your first order: JULI3729

So, back to the enchiladas. In this week’s CSA box we received sweet potatoes, a bacon avocado, a delicata squash, and cilantro. Basically the perfect combo for creating these vegan enchiladas we have been wanting to try from Thug Kitchen.

Unlike *regular old enchiladas* these of course do not have any cheese. They make up for that loss with a ton of flavor + crazy amounts of nutrients from all the veggies.

First, we made the enchilada sauce and filling. The filling is made of onions, grated squash, black beans, and mashed sweet potatoes and the sauce is mostly tomato paste and vegetable broth (with lots of spices of course). Full disclosure – we broke the vegan rule and used chicken broth.

We have long been fans of Ezekiel Bread and we rolled up the enchiladas with these tortillas, which we tried for the first time. Next time, we would try something a little softer – these did soften up after baking and especially when we ate them as leftovers the next day, but a more authentic tortilla might have improved the texture.

Once the sauce and filling is ready, the sauce goes in the pan first, then each tortilla is filled with stuffing and rolled up.

The rest of the sauce goes on top, and it’s ready to bake in the oven!

We loved this recipe – it was very flavorful and filling. We added avocado and cilantro on top, along with a little salsa as well.

Served best with local Ballast Point beers. Cheers!

Recipe from Thug Kitchen:
*warning – these guys keep it real*

MAKES 8 ENCHILADAS OR ENOUGH FOR 4 PEOPLE

ENCHILADA SAUCE

21/4 cups vegetable broth
1/3 cup tomato paste
21/2 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
11/2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 to 3 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons soy sauce or tamari
1 tablespoon lime juice

FILLING

1 large sweet potato (about 1 pound), chopped into nickel-size pieces*
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
1 medium yellow squash, grated on your box grater (about 1 cup)
1 teaspoon chili powder
2 cloves garlic, minced
11/2 cups cooked black beans**
1 teaspoon maple syrup or agave syrup
A pack of corn or flour tortillas
Sliced avocado
Chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Make the enchilada sauce: Dump everything but the lime juice into a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer. Use a whisk or something and make sure that the tomato paste isn’t just sitting in a fucking clump. Let that simmer together for 10 to 15 minutes so that the sauce has time to thicken up a little. Add the lime juice and turn off the heat. Let that shit cool while you make the filling.

2. To cook the sweet potato, grab a medium saucepan, fill it with an inch or two of water, and bring to a boil over medium heat. Throw in your metal steamer basket and fill that with the chopped sweet potato. Cover and steam until tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Dump into a bowl and smash the pieces around. Some chunks are fine, so you don’t need to work too hard at making this smooth.

3. While the sweet potato steams, grab a large skillet or wok and heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté; until it begins to brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Toss in the squash and cook for another minute. Add the chili powder, cumin, salt, garlic, and black beans. Cook together for another 2 minutes and then fold in the mashed sweet potato and maple syrup and turn off the heat. Mix until all that shit is combined.

4. Now you’re going to make the motherfucking enchiladas. Crank your oven to 375F. Grab a 9 x 13-inch baking dish.

5. Cover the bottom of the baking dish with about 11/2 cups of enchilada sauce. Using a griddle, your oven, or the microwave, warm up the tortillas. Dip a tortilla around in a little of the sauce in the baking dish so that the bottom is all coated. Fill the tortilla with a couple spoonfuls of filling, then roll it up and set it seam-side down in the dish. You know how the fuck enchiladas are supposed to look, so handle that shit. Keep going until you run out of space or out of filling.

6. Cover the enchiladas with the remaining sauce, cover the dish tightly with foil, and throw it in the oven for 20 minutes. Take off the foil and cook it for 5 more minutes. Let it cool for a minute or two before serving. Feel free to top those savory sons of bitches with some sliced avocado or chopped cilantro if you give a shit about presentation.

(keep going ’cause you know we aren’t done . . . )

* You really just need 1 large cooked sweet potato. If you have a leftover roasted sweet potato or something, just scoop out the flesh and move on with the recipe. Or steam it in the microwave if that is your shit: Stab it with a fork, then cook on high for 5 minutes, flip, then 5 minutes more.

** Or one 15-ounce can