Sweet Potato Quesadillas and Chili-Lime Tortilla Chips

Here are two recipes that I just can't...stop...making. Seriously. I'm making them again on Thursday, that's how much I love them.

This has become one of my go-to weeknight meals; including cooking the sweet potato, the whole sheboodle comes in at under 30 minutes--and on days like today, when I didn't get home until 8:30? Yes please. (Note--I didn't make these tonight, wah wah, I had leftover quinoa. Which I'll post soon.)

My take on VeganDad's Sweet Potato and Kale Quesadillas:

-1 large sweet potato, diced

-Several Ts water for sautéing*

-1 sm red onion, sliced thinly*

-2-3 cloves garlic, pressed*

-1 C canned black beans, rinsed and drained

-1/4 C hot salsa* (the one I used wasn't kidding around!)

-1 t chili powder

-1/2 t cumin

-1/4 t cinnamon*

-salt and pepper to taste

-1 bunch kale, stalks removed, torn into bite-size-ish pieces*

-2 Damascus Bakery flax roll-ups*

1. Place chopped sweet potato in a small pot and cover with water. Bring to bubbling, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for about 15 minutes, until potatoes are tender.
   
2. While potatoes cook, heat a few tablespoons of water over medium heat in a 2-quart saucepan.* Saute onions for 5-7 minutes, until starting to brown. Feel free to kick the heat up a notch if it's not doing it for you.
   
3. Add garlic and saute for 2 minutes. Add beans and mix well. Add salsa and spices, and season to taste with salt and pepper. (I only needed a dash of each--with maybe a bit more pepper--but I'm not a big salt person.)
   
4. Drain potatoes and roughly mash. Add to pan and mix. Cram your abundance of kale into the pan and cover--they should steam down in about 4 minutes or so.* Mix well, and keep an eye on it so that the beans don't stick to the pan. There should be enough water on your kale that this shouldn't be a problem, but just in case. Adjust seasonings to taste, and remove from heat.
   
5. Heat a frying pan over medium heat. If it's good and non-stick, you're good to go; if it needs some encouragement, spray lightly with cooking spray. Divide the filling in two and plop one section onto half of a roll-up. Fold it over and carefully transfer it into the pan (I use the spatula and my hand for this). Once it's heated up a bit, it should be sturdy enough on the bottom to allow you to flip with a spatula. Repeat for the other quesadilla. Once they've cooled and solidified up a bit, cut them  into triangles (I usually do about 4).
   

*What all did I change? I eliminated the oil, because it's what I do (and similarly, added more garlic and WAY more greens; I am a garlic and kale fiend). I also left out the corn, pointless vegetable that it is, changed to red onion for the pop of it, and took down the cinnamon a notch--with the kind of salsa I was using, the full amount of cinnamon was overwhelming. Similarly, the salsa I used was fiery enough that I was able to leave out the jalapeno and hot sauce completely.

As for the flax roll-ups, I cannot stress to you how miraculous they are. I'll post the nutritional info below, but these things are a powerhouse. They have, and this may be a slight exaggeration, a zillion grams of protein and fiber. You may notice on the Damascus website that they contain the suspicious dough conditioner L-Cysteine--but fear not! These bad boys are assuredly vegan. Quoth their QA Manager in an email to me: "The L-Cysteine is derived by our vender from a vegetable source." Rock on.

Nutritional info:

-Filling: 212.3 calories, 1.6 g fat, 45.6 g carbs, 12.5 g fiber, 11.9 g protein

-Flax wrap: 110 calories, 3 g fat, 15 g carbs, 9 g fiber, 12.0 g protein

Total: 322.3 calories, 4.6 g fat, 60.6 g carbs, 21.5 g fiber, 23.9 g protein

Bam!

I love to eat these with SusanV's Baked Chili-Lime Tortilla Chips, which I prepare pretty much as she's written, except that I use bottled lime juice (lazy!) and bake for 10 minutes on the first side and 7-8 on the second (I like my chips slightly burny). These store pretty well--I've had a bunch that I made last week stored in a sealed baggie and they're still fine. I know because I snuck one earlier, tra la.

The nutritional info for these varies on whichever type of corn tortillas you start with! Mine come in at about 113.4 calories for 8 chips, which ain't so bad, really. Also, they're delicious--I often find that just 4 is plenty satisfying.