Test Kitchen: Vegan Enchiladas with Sweet Potato Sauce

Easy, healthy recipes tested for you weekly at the Sargent Choice Test Kitchen

Kelley Magill, Graduate Dietetics Student, SAR ’20

About the Sargent Choice Test Kitchen: We’re all about making healthy taste delicious here at Sargent Choice.  That’s why we’ve teamed up with faculty-in-residence Dr. Karen Jacobs to offer students a one-of-a-kind opportunity to trial and taste-test new Sargent Choice healthy recipes each week at the Sargent Choice Test Kitchen.  Dr. Karen Jacobs invites students of all majors (not just nutrition) into her home on Boston University’s campus to cook up a recipe developed by Sargent Choice Registered Dietitian, Jennifer Culbert.  Feedback from the weekly Test Kitchen gets incorporated into future Sargent Choice recipes and helps shape the face of healthy dining at BU.

The Sargent Choice Test Kitchen met this week to make vegan enchiladas with a sweet potato sauce. We loved the help from sorority chapters from a few schools around Boston!

What we liked:

  • The recipe was easy and straightforward. We separated into three stations: filling, sauce, and assemble station
  • They were delicious and filling!
  • Due to Thanksgiving last week, all purées were sold out in stores. We used butternut squash soup instead of sweet potato puree and omitted the added water. It worked perfect for the filling.

What we would change:

  • The corn tortillas were cracking when we folded them. We decided to let them sit with a warm, wet paper towel for a few minutes and it worked to soften the tortillas. Flour tortillas would also work great!
  • Many people did not care for olives. We omitted them for half of the enchiladas
  • Some did not love the tahini sauce. It had too much of a tahini flavor even with added lemon and garlic. If you like the taste of tahini, then you would like the flavor of the sauce!

These plant-based enchiladas are packed with nutrition:

  • Vitamin A from the sweet potato/butternut squash purée
  • Fiber and protein from the black beans
  • Healthy fats from the olive oil, olives, and tahini
  • Anti-inflammatory benefits from the turmeric and garlic

Sargent Choice Vegan Enchiladas with Sweet Potato Sauce

Recipe modified from 101 Cookbooks
Yield: Approximately 6 servings

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 15-ounce can sweet potato puree, butternut squash puree, or pumpkin puree
½ teaspoon turmeric powder
2 medium cloves garlic, grated on microplane
1 tablespoon taco seasoning
½ teaspoon salt
1 lemon, zest and juice
8 corn tortillas (6-inch), room temperature or warm
1 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
⅓ cup chopped black olives
⅓ cup tahini
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped cilantro leaves
For serving: favorite salsa

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 425⁰
  2. Make the Filling: In a large mixing bowl combine the olive oil, sweet potato puree, turmeric, half of the grated garlic, taco seasoning, salt, zest of the lemon, and 1.5 cups of water. Stir well.
  3. Assemble the Enchiladas: Ladle a cup of the sweet potato mixture into the bottom of an 8×12-inch (or larger) baking dish, or equivalent. Lay the tortillas on a work surface, and divide the black beans equally between them, sprinkle equally with olives. Roll up tortillas, and place seam side down in baking dish. Pour remaining sauce on top (it will thicken).
  4. Bake and Make Sauce: Bake the enchiladas for approximately 30-35 minutes. While the enchiladas are baking thin the tahini with ¼ cup warm water. Whisk in the remaining garlic, ¼ teaspoon salt, and a squeeze of lemon juice (to taste). Top the enchiladas with dollops of the tahini sauce, and the fresh cilantro when they come out of the oven. Serve hot.