I Made Your Dinner!

I made the sweet potato black bean burritos tonight.  I will admit that at first I was a bit leery of the sweet potato and black bean combo for what reason I cannot understand since I LOVE both ingredients.  The aversion was 100% foolish.  What a terrifically tasty combination.  This is a delicious and easy dinner.  Just be careful not to burn the cumin seeds or the potatoes (I almost did!) the outer edges of those potatoes will brown before the rest is tender.  Watch the heat carefully and you'll be all right. 

sweet potatoes with cumin seeds

sweet potatoes combined with corn, beans and diced tomatoes

A couple things I did differently...  I made about a half recipe (our fridge is full of leftovers!).  Ryan had 2 small burritos, I had one and there was a little left over.  Also, I had some leftover diced tomatoes with green chiles from the last time I made black bean soup so threw those in.  I also didn't have any cilantro or fresh limes wedges so I omitted them.

I paired the burritos with a side of quiona with golden raisins and chopped almonds.

Bring 1 Cup water + 1 tsp veggie bouillon to a boil.  Add 1/2 Cup quinoa.  Cover and reduce heat to medium-low.

Toast a teaspoon of ground cumin and a some red pepper flakes in a hot skillet.  Add about a handful each of chopped almonds and golden raisins to the skillet and heat until raisins begin to puff up (don't walk away it doesn't take long).  Add to quinoa.  The quinoa is done when most of the liquid is gone and the quinoa has grown larger and formed little rings around the outside.

This quinoa dish is a perfect example of my "well-stocked pantry" mentality. I hadn't really planned a side for this dinner and threw this together by taking a quick peek in the pantry while thinking about the spices included in the main dish.  I usually stock up on walnuts (I put them in so many dishes), almonds and other dried fruits for snacking, to toss in with my hot cereal, baking whims, etc.  I like to keep a variety of versatile grains on hand: several kinds of rice, lentils, quinoa, bulgur, barley, etc. to mix with veggies or other ingredients as I have done here. 


I highly recommend this dish to everyone!

Your Kitchen Table Friend,
Allison