Black Bean Sweet Potato Enchiladas

After a long and drawn out email conversation with Cassie and much googling of the difference between yams and sweet potatoes, we discovered that most yams in America are actually just an orange-colored variety of sweet potatoes - called yams merely to differentiate the regular from the orange ones. There are such things as yams, but usually it's not what people think they are. We received "yams" in our Bountiful Basket, but they seem to taste and cook just like sweet potatoes. Apparently you can substitute either for the other in pretty much any recipe. 

I also added the cheeses and cumin, because I am not a fan of hot food and I love cheese and cumin. Both were great additions, the cheeses making it creamier and the cumin keeping it very Mexican without being too hot. To make it vegan, take out the cheeses and it probably tastes just fine. You can also up the chili powder if you like the kick!

Black Bean Sweet Potato Enchiladas

Modified from Inspired RD, originally from the Vegan Planet Cookbook

2 large sweet potatoes or yams

1 tsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic

one 4 oz. cans chopped green chiles

1 can black beans, rinsed

one 14 oz. can diced tomatoes

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1 oz Neufchatel cream cheese

salt & pepper

1 ½ cups mild salsa

½ cup shredded Mexican-blend cheese

8 medium whole-wheat tortillas, or 12 fajita-size tortillas

½ cup chopped onion

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Wash your potatoes thoroughly, then chop into small chunks, unpeeled.  Spread them out on ungreased cookie sheets in a single layer.  Roast in the oven for 20 minutes, tossing halfway through. After 20 minutes, remove the sweet potatoes from the oven and reduce the temperature to 350 degrees.

In a large pan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat, add the garlic, ¼ cup onion, and green chiles and cook for about 30 seconds. Add the black beans, tomatoes, chili powder, cumin, ¼ cup cheese, cream cheese, salt and pepper. Stir in the roasted sweet potatoes and let everything cook together for about 5 minutes until cheese is melted through.

While the filling is on the stove, prepare a 9x13 glass dish with cooking spray and coat the bottom with about a ¾ cup layer of salsa. Place a large spoonful of filling into the middle of each tortilla, roll it up and place it seam-side down in your dish. Repeat until pan is filled.

Spoon any extra filling over the top, then add remaining salsa, chopped onion, and ¼ cup cheese to the top. Bake the enchiladas in the 350-degree oven for 20 minutes. Serve with avocado and sour cream if desired. Enjoy!

Makes 4-6 servings, 2 enchiladas per serving.


I really loved these. A lot. The texture and combination of tastes were incredible - I'll probably put these in my regular rotation for whenever I have a sweet potato hanging around...however, I will have to make pretty small portions at a time, because past a day or two they do not make great leftovers.