Thursday, February 28, 2013

Sweet Potato Quesadillas

We love to eat dairy-free a few times a week, and this is one of the most delicious ways we have found to do that. The baked sweet potato takes the place of the cheese, and really, it's shocking how creamy and rich it becomes when served this way.

(This, like many of our recipes in the past few days, is an older idea revisited with a renewed palate and way more hours in the kitchen. We strive to not only come up with new ideas, but to give you the best versions of all of our ideas -- the stuff you want to make all the time and recipes that work out just right every time you use them. The dishes we've been highlighting are our go-to's, and we're oven the moon that we think we might've figured out how to make them even better!)

Sweet Potato Quesadillas

1 large sweet potato (baked in a 350-degree oven for 1 hour)

Kosher salt and cracked black pepper (to taste)
1 medium portobello (1 1/2 cups sliced)
1 medium red pepper (1 cup sliced)
1/2 white onion (1 1/4 sliced)
Juice of 1/2 lime
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 tablespoons canola oil (more for grilling quesadillas)

4 10-inch, whole-wheat tortillas (like Whole Foods 365 brand)
Guacamole and Mexican hot sauce (to serve)

Peel the baked sweet potato, place it into a medium bowl, mash it with a fork, season with salt and pepper, and set aside. In a large bowl toss together the portobello, pepper, onion, lime juice, chili powder, and salt and pepper to taste. Get a large frying pan screaming hot over high heat. Add the 2 tablespoons of canola, wait for it to shimmer, and then add the vegetable mixture. Cook 5 to 6 minutes while stirring often until onions begin to brown and most of the liquid the vegetables released during cooking has evaporated. Place vegetables back into the bowl and set aside.

Rinse out the large frying pan and place it over medium heat. Assemble the quesadillas by first dividing the sweet potato mixture between the 4 tortillas, then dividing the vegetable mixture. Add enough oil to the pan to lightly coat the bottom. Fold quesadillas in half and cook both sides until the outside is nice and crisp. You will need to do this in two batches. Serve with guacamole and your favorite Mexican hot sauce. (Serves 4 as an appetizer and 2 as a main course.)

10 comments:

The Yogi Vegetarian said...

Looks absolutely delicious! I found that mashed roast pumpkin with a little seasalt and smoked paprika is a great spread too- try it in a sandwich with sundried tomatoes, wild rocket (arugula) and maybe even a few strips of marinated tofu......

Catherine Weber said...

Looks delicious! I'm always trying to think of new ways to cut down on dairy, so we'll definitely try this!

Grace @ Food-Fitness-FreshAir said...

I love this idea. Though I'm not vegan, I prefer to eat that way most days of the week. It's always great to find ingredients you can swap in for dairy and don't feel like anything's missing.

Eileen said...

Sweet potato sounds like such a great filling for a quesadilla. Hooray for delicious handheld vegetable-filled lunch!

Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar said...

Cool idea! These sound awesome!

Anonymous said...

Sweet potato quesadilla cheese is a vegan secret! Isn't it awesome? I like black bean and sweet potato quesadillas!

JFloColman said...

i try to eat dairy free a few times a week too! i love sweet potatoes, what a great idea!

Anonymous said...

We just made these for dinner with homemade corn tortillas - SO easy and yummy! Great busy weeknight meal. Will definitely make again, but will include beans for protein. Most certainly will add margaritas next time. Sadly we did not have any tequila tonight. But still so tasty!

Alan said...

As a Texan who recently started eating vegan, I absolutely love seeing Mexican-style recipes without the dairy. I just bought the ingredients for this (except the mushroom which I forgot and will be returning to the store for momentarily) and I have a feeling tonight will not be my only time making these lovely quesadillas!

Anonymous said...

I made these last week and will be making them often!! My 4 year-old wouldn't let me put the mushroom mixture on hers (though loved it without) so my 5 year-old ate it out if the bowl after he finished his quesadilla! It's THAT good! Thank you so much for the recipe!