Sweet Potato and Black Bean Lasagna
This meal is best enjoyed on the couch, surrounded with lots of blankets and pillows, and accompanied with a marathon of 30 Rock (Season 4 to be specific).
I've been a bit under the weather lately - so while I usually pride myself on soaking and cooking dried beans and making tortillas from scratch I went the pre-made route on most of this meal. It was surprisingly easy and didn't take much energy to create. I was playing around with lots of ideas combining these ingredients - I considered quesadillas or enchiladas but ultimately decided on a lasagna. 
Sweet Potato and Black Bean Mexican Lasagna
4 medium/small sweet potatoes
2 cans of black beans
1 yellow onion
Corn tortillas (I used about 6)
4 oz. grated goat cheese (I used a hard sharp cheddar goat cheese but I think this dish would be interesting with a soft goat cheese as well)
Chili powder
Allspice
Ground Cumin
Salt
Olive Oil
Preheat your oven to 375F. Start by peeling and cubing your sweet potatoes in .5" chunks. Throw in a bowl and toss with olive oil, chili powder, allspice and salt. Spread evenly over a baking sheet and roast for 35-45 minutes (until tender when poked with a fork).
Drain and rinse your black beans - throw these in the bowl you used for your sweet potatoes and stir in 2 tsp. of ground cumin and salt. Dice an onion and sautee with olive oil just until they begin to caramelize and are translucent.
Once the sweet potatoes are done cooking reduce the oven heat to 350F. Layer the green chile sauce, tortillas, black beans, sweet potatoes, onions, and cheese in that order until you use up all of your ingredients. Top with the remaining green chile sauce and a little bit of cheese. Cover with tin foil and bake for 40 minutes (remove tin foil at 20 minutes in to let the top brown a little).
This will serve 3-4 people.
A quick note: I've been cutting way back on dairy lately and have been considering going vegan. The compromise I've come to for now is to only eat local, grass-fed dairy and when going out to eat choosing vegan options (or making substitutions) when they're available. I'll touch more on this topic later but wanted to go ahead and throw it out there for discussion.
I can't wait to try this recipe. It looks similar to a dish I used to eat at my favorite restaraunt where we used to live. Thanks for posting it.
OMG! I am so going to try this! Sounds yummy especially since the hubby is a huge fan of sweet potatoes. I made him lentil loaf with mashed sweet potatoes last night.
Hi Kathleen-I am an avid reader of your blog since the beginning. I just wanted to share my thoughts on Veganism quickly as I have noted you alluding to it breifly before or making recipes which are vegan.
I have always been an animal rights activist, and someone who has struggled with my weight and sustaining a vegetarian diet in spite of my interest in animal welfare. Meat and cheese are just so delicious!
On New Years Day I watched the documentary Earthlings(watch if you haven't), immediately turned vegan and have not looked back.
During my transition I wanted to be contientous about not gaining weight or becoming reliant on carbs and processed soy products, so I am a "whole foods vegan" and eat primarly fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains and alot of water and coffee.
Since making the change I have more energy, my food bills are lower and I don't need to throw out ingredients that expire(read dairy).
Veganism is not for everyone, but I have found it to be an incredible game changer in not only my energy levels and personal contentment but also how I view the world and my place in it.
You will become so creative with your meals, and how to get the most flavour and texture out of a variety of whole foods.
And without sounding preachy it is pretty incredible the number of animals lives you end up saving in the process. In addition to speaking out against the conditions of factory workers and the enviromental impact.
I will direct email you some recipes!
Happy exploring.
Jennie from Toronto
Jennie Rose - I'm definitely going to get into some of the reasons as to why Jeremy and I are vegetarians and why I am considering going all the way vegan and reasons why I may not. Thank you so much for sharing your experience - I love hearing why people eat what they do.
I'd love some recipes! Send them my way - jeremyandkathleen@gmail.com
Whoa. This makes the black bean soup I posted earlier today really look like slushy poo. Haha!
We aren't vegetarians, I just hate cooking meat and Lily won't touch it. Ha! I've been considering a post as well discussing my stand on animal products. I have no illusions of changing the world, but it does sure gross me out.
I tried vegan in my mid-teens and I personally just couldn't do it. A diet without cheese and eggs made me sad. But more power to you if you can!
since we have only been "full-blown" vegetarians for under a year, i want to ensure i'm getting all the nutrients + protein needs in this way, before moving forward to become vegan. it is in my plans for 2011 however!
we're also continuing to work on eating from scratch, unprocessed, local, etc. so i'm fine with taking baby steps toward veganism.
if you take the same journey, i'll very much be looking forward to following you on it!
Oh yeahhhhh I'm trying this one of for shizo :)
I just started following your blog last week and with this post you have already become one of my favorites. Black beans, sweet potato, AND goat cheese?!?! Yum. What kind of tortillas do you use? My fav (so far) is La Tortilla Factory Hand Made Style. Closest to the real thing I've found... around here anyway.
Holly Hanna - It's delish - you have to try it! My grocery store only carries one brand of corn tortillas - I can't remember what they were but nothing worth noting, really. I'll have to see if I can find La Tortilla Factory around here!
Here's a link. I like the yellow corn, but I just noticed they come in chipotle too!!
http://www.latortillafactory.com/products-8.aspx
Sorry, I take my tortillas pretty seriously...
this looks great. i must try it. whenever i make veggie quesadillas (from spinach, onion, pappers, and whatever other veggies are on hand) i throw in sweet potatoes. they add so much. thanks for posting.
hmmm, i'm not a vegatarian but have considered it. i find myself turned off by meat lately. look forward to the next discussions. pam
This made my mouth salivate at first sight. Then when I saw it was sweet potato and black beans - SWOON! What a delicious little bite! I can't wait to try it. Thanks for sharing, as always.
I really look forward to hearing your thoughts on Vegan.
woah! i made this recipe in enchilada form yesterday! did you base yours on gluten free goddess' recipe?
kate - Fun! I didn't use a recipe at all but feel free to post the link. I scoured Smitten Kitchen and 101 Cookbooks (my go-to recipe sources) for something using sweet potatoes and black beans and couldn't find anything. This was me just winging it!
Here's the link: http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2006/10/sweet-potato-black-bean-enchiladas.html. The recipes are so similar, it's uncanny! The enchiladas turned out really well (my boyfriend loved them!). I'll post photos of the results on my blog as soon as I can find the energy.
this looks AMAZING. So excited to try it out!
This looks delicious! I reposted it on my blog for my readers to enjoy! Love your blog btw!
I made a low-fat vegan version of this tonight for dinner. I caramelized the onions without oil and baked the sweet potatoes without oil. I substituted the goat cheese with a soy cheese. It was delicious! I follow the diet described by Dr. Esselstyn, which is low fat, whole food, plant based diet. This was a very hearty and filling meal I served with a side of steamed zucchini and yellow squash. Thanks for the recipe!
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