Sweet Potato Enchilada Casserole or Burritos

I've never been a big casserole person, we never really had them growing up. I hear they're kind of a midwestern/southern type-ah thang. Casseroles just aren't big in Alaska I guess. Whenever I think of them, for some reason I think one thing...church. I have no idea why, it's not like I went to any casserole brunches at any churches. We did have one exception however; green chicken chili casserole. It was one of us kids' favorite dishes growing up and was regularly requested for birthday dinners. My dad though, hated it. He's never liked chicken.  Anyways, I thought it was about time to try my hand at a casserole. No chicken though, ick. I'll take sweet potatoes instead, doesn't that sound better? Yes. This casserole is kind of like enchiladas for the lazy cook. I've only made enchiladas a few times but I'm pretty sure they might be one of those dishes that are always better when someone else makes them, you know? Or maybe I'm just an enchilada making failure? Either way, this casserole is the way to go. 

This enchilada casserole is an easy way to bring healthy, comfort food to the table. Feel free to pour a bit of homemade or store-bought enchilada sauce over the top of the casserole. I am strictly against tortilla sogginess, plus I don't' really like enchilada sauce so I used one chipotle chili in Adobo sauce to give this casserole a bit of an enchilada flavor without having to use a salty sauce. 

Sweet Potato Enchilada Casserole or Burritos

Serves 8

Notes: If you go the burrito route, they will be very juicy. Very good, but messy. I prefer to make the casserole but sometimes life calls for a burrito! Feel free to add more chipolte chilis for a spicier dish! 

• Sweet Potatoes: 
• 1 large sweet potato, scrubbed and diced
• drizzling of olive oil
• sprinkle of kosher salt
• dash of ground black pepper
• Filling:
• 1 15 oz. can of black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 15 oz. can of sweet corn, drained and rinsed
• 7 oz. diced fire roasted green chilies 
• 1 canned chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, minced (optional)
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella or pepper jack vegan cheese
• 1/2 cup salsa
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1 vine-ripened tomato, diced (save half for topping)
• Conclusion:
• 6 large flour tortillas
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella or pepper jack vegan cheese
• 1 avocado, diced

Preheat oven to 375 F.

On a baking sheet, scatter the sweet potatoes and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper and shake to coat. Bake at 375 F for about 40 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. 

Meanwhile, combine the filling ingredients in a large bowl. When the potatoes are done roasting, add those to the mixture and combine. 

For the Burritos:

Transfer to a casserole dish and bake for 30 minutes. Brown a tortilla over a low flame and then fill with a portion of the sweet potato mixture along with some diced fresh tomato and avocado. Serve hot and careful, it will be juicy!

For the Casserole: 

In a large (10x14) casserole dish coated with a nonstick cooking spray, arrange two tortillas on the bottom. They should overlap and go up the sides of the dish a bit. 

Evenly distribute half the filling mixture on top. Follow with two more tortillas and then the other half of the mixture. Top with two tortillas. 

Bake at 375 F for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and scatter with 1/2 cup of vegan cheese.

Turn the oven to broil and adjust the top rack to the highest placement. Put the casserole on the top rack and broil for 5-10 minutes, until the cheese is melted. Careful to ensure that the tortillas don't burn. 

Remove from the oven and top with half the diced tomato and one diced avocado.

Allow to rest for 5-10 minutes, then cut into eight slices and serve hot. 

Listening to: Priscilla Ahn – Dear Sweetheart

German Word of The Day: Casserole --> Auflauf (pronounced: ouwf-laouwf) 

Good Deed of The Day: Help forgotten Romanian horses. No horse should be forced to pull excessively heavy loads while being beaten, neglected, and abused, only to end up in a slaughterhouse or starve to death. Please support this petition and help the terribly tortured horses in Romania live a better life. Sign this petition, here. 

[yumprint-recipe id='109']

Creamy Spiced Cauliflower Soup

News. I'm never eating cauliflower in any other form from now on. Nope. Only in this exact soup, as it's too good to waste cauliflower on anything else. If you've been looking for an extraordinary cauliflower soup recipe you've come to the right place. I don't mean to brag but...ohmygod. How is it that cauliflower can be shaped to taste soooo good? It's straight up magical, you guys.   

I seriously had to put this soup away as soon as it cooled, because I kept slurping it from the ladle as I passed by. That's when you know you've made a great soup. It's luxurious and silky. This coconut-creamed cauliflower soup is infused with aromatic spices like cardamom, cumin, coriander, and turmeric. So good, it's the only cauliflower soup you'll ever want to make. 

On a separate note, it's been almost a week since I've ran! Yoga has taken over my life. I downloaded Yoga Studio (has a lotus flower logo) on my phone (I'm in no way affiliated) and I am obsessed! I did yoga in a studio yesterday and then after work came home and did one on the app too. You should check it out! Also, my compass pose is improving! Hurray! 

Creamy Spiced Cauliflower Soup

By Katie Henry - Produce On Parade

Luxurious and silky, this coconut-creamed cauliflower soup is infused with aromatic spices like cardamom, cumin, coriander, and turmeric. So good, it's the only cauliflower soup you'll ever want to make.

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. olive or coconut oil
• 2 medium yellow onions, diced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 ¼ tsp. ground cumin
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 tsp. ground turmeric
• ½ tsp. ground coriander
• ⅛ tsp. ground cardamom
• dash of ground black pepper
• sprinkling of crushed red pepper flakes
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 ½ cups vegetable broth
• 1 large head of cauliflower, evenly roughly chopped bite size
• 1 cup canned, full-fat coconut milk
• 1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
• Dash of fresh dill (for garnish - optional)

Ingredients

1. In a large soup pot, heat the oil over medium-low. Saute the onions through the pepper flakes, stirring occasionally, until the onions become translucent; about 7-10 minutes. Then, add the garlic and saute another few minutes.
2. Add the broth and cauliflower and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce to a simmer and allow to cook for about 15 minutes, until the cauliflower is tender. Remove from heat and transfer carefully to a blender (or use hand blender in pot). Blend on high (allowing steam to vent) for a few minutes, until silky and smooth.
3. Transfer back to the soup pot and stir in the coconut milk and vinegar. Bring back to heat over low, ensuring it doesn't boil.
4. Remove from heat and serve hot and topped with fresh dill and ground black pepper, if you like.

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Total time: 35 minutes
Yield: 6 servings

Save Money!

I buy my canned coconut milk here.

It’s only $2.20 per can vs $4 per can at my local grocery store Fred Meyer!

---

More Creamy Soup Recipes

Herbed Acorn Squash Bisque

Copycat Campbell's Tomato Soup

Sweet Potato & Orange Herbed Soup with Spicy Sausage

Smoky Paprika Pumpkin Soup

More Recipes With Cauliflower

Quinoa with Grilled Veggies & Ginger Nectarine Sauce

Creamy Fettuccine Miso Alfredo

Cauliflower Mac & Cheeze

Vegan Saag Tofu Paneer

I feel like it's important to note that the songs I post here are completely unrelated to my life. I just post what I'm jamming away to during that time. Just, an FYI. I don't want any, "Why's your heart broken!?" comments. It's not. No worries, my dears...it's just a catchy song. Listen and chair dance with me!

Listening to: Rixton – Me And My Broken Heart

German Word of The Day: Cauliflower --> Blumenkohl (pronounced: bloomen-coil)

Good Deed of The Day: Sign this petition to demand that China crackdown on people who buy tiger products and watch their execution, it's just awful.

Amazing Vegan Stir Fry

Prepare to be amazed. Restaurant worthy dish right here! Stir fry is always good, but this stir fry is truly, in a word...amazing. That's really all I have for today. No angry rant about animal rights, no talk of the fact that my birthday is in less than one week (fingers crossed for a small, furry animal companion). Nope, just this awesome-sauce stir fry.

Well, I would like to add that I get unnecessarily excited about my birthday. It's my day to make whatever outrageously grotesque, over-the-top dessert I want. It has to be completely incongruous to a shocking degree. Oh yes, I go for the big leagues. Sometimes I even make more than one!

It's my day to pretty much just jam out to my own beat. Katie all day. Non-stop. That means cooking and grocery shopping (without being rushed), plants are usually involved, and of course most of the day is spent singing out regular everyday conversations to Todd (think New Girl style). And not wearing pants. Obviously. It's clearly the most glorious day of my year. 

This stir fry is straight up amazing. Fresh veggies sauteed in a delicious and easy homemade stir fry sauce marry with baked tofu so golden brown that even the pickiest eaters will love this dish. If you're not vegan or even vegetarian, or hate tofu, or your partner hates tofu...I double-dog-dare you to try this recipe and tell me you didn't like it. Do it. You're going to love it! Trust me. 

Amazing Vegan Stir Fry

Serves 4

Notes: Feel free to add sliced carrots or red pepper in your stir fry. I'm not partial to them in mine, but I know they are classic stir fry additions. Also, really try to find the vacuum packed tofu! If you can't then the kind that comes in the plastic bin can be used, but it will need to be pressed for 30 minutes prior to use. I ate this on it's own, but feel free to serve over rice, quinoa, couscous, or millet. 

• Tofu:
• 1 20 oz. package of vacuum packed extra firm tofu, cubed
• Veggies:
• 1 Tbsp. sesame oil
• 1 cup broccoli florets, chopped
• 1 cup snow peas, halved on a diagonal
• 1 cup canned baby corn, diagonally sliced
• 1 cup asparagus, diagonally sliced
• Sauce:
• 1/4 cup liquid amino acids or soy sauce
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. fresh ginger, minced
• 1 Tbsp. agave nectar or maple syrup
• 1 Tbsp. corn starch
• red pepper flakes

Preheat oven to 400 F. Dry off the tofu with a few paper towels then cube into bite size pieces. Coat a baking sheet with a nonstick cooking spray and evenly spread the tofu, so no pieces are overlapping. 

Bake at 400 F for about 35 minutes until the tofu is dry and golden brown. Remove and turn off oven. Set aside until ready to use. 

Meanwhile, prepare the veggies. In a large frying pan or wok, heat the sesame oil over medium-low. Then, add the veggies and saute for about 8 minutes over medium heat, stirring frequently. 

While the veggies are sauteing, whisk together the sauce ingredients in a small bowl or pyrex measuring cup. Then, add to the veggies and stir well to coat. Continue to cook for about 5 minutes, then cover and cook for 3 more minutes or until the broccoli is tender. Add the baked tofu and stir well to combine. 

Serve hot. This stir fry can be eaten alone as I did, or served over rice, quinoa, couscous, or millet. 

Just chair dancing my little butt off while singing my little heart out to this song. Sing with me!

[soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/102277894" params="color=62ab98&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_artwork=true" width="100%" height="166" iframe="true" /]

German Word of The Day: Stir fry --> Gemüsepfanne (pronounced: gehmoozeup-fameh) Gemüse means vegetables and Pfanne means pan, cool huh?!

Good Deed of The Day: Have you heard about "soring" with regards to horses? It's where unscrupulous trainers deliberately inflict pain on the horses in order to exaggerate their high-stepping gait to gain unfair competitive advantage at horse shows. They use caustic chemicals, chains, hoof knives and grinders, sharp objects, weighted shoes, and other painful devices and techniques that make it hurt for the horse to step down. Sickening, huh? Let's put a stop to it. Sign the petition, here.

[yumprint-recipe id='107'][notelr code="amazon53448ea38e9303.40829434" type="amazon" size="800" color="light"]