Recipe: Sweet Potato Burrito

As you can see in this photo, I sort of failed at wrapping this as a burrito...I think I put too much cheese in it. No big deal, though...I just ate like a tostada instead! I made sure to put less cheese in the others that I made, and that definitely made a difference.

The great thing about this recipe is you can make a bunch of them and freeze them to use for future lunches/dinners, which is exactly what I'm doing. I cut the recipe down to make four of them (I only had enough sweet potatoes to make four) and froze three of them for the rest of this week/early next week. A warning: these burritos are SPICY. To make them milder, I suggest cutting down on the chili powder. I don't mind spice in the least bit, so I kept the recipe as-is when I made them.

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
6 cups canned kidney beans, drained
2 cups water
3 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
4 teaspoons prepared mustard (I used dijon)
3 tablespoons soy sauce
4 cups cooked and mashed sweet potatoes
12 (10 inch) flour tortillas, warmed
8 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Heat oil in a medium skillet, and saute onion and garlic until soft. Stir in beans, and mash. Gradually stir in water, and heat until warm. Remove from heat, and stir in the chili powder, cumin, mustard, cayenne pepper and soy sauce.
3. Divide bean mixture and mashed sweet potatoes evenly between the warm flour tortillas. Top with cheese. Fold up tortillas burrito style, and place on a baking sheet.
4. Bake for 12 minutes in the preheated oven, and serve.

to make this recipe a little healthier, I did the following:
1. I rinsed the kidney beans after draining them. According to research that I've done online, rinsing canned beans for 30-45 seconds can reduce the sodium in canned beans by 35%-40%. It was my original intention to use dry kidney beans, but I didn't realize how long I needed to soak/cook them, so I ran out and bought a can of kidney beans at the deli around the corner and donated the bag of beans that I bought to the food drive at my school.
2. I use low-sodium soy sauce instead of the regular kind. I can't taste the difference, and I figure there's no reason not to go with this option.
3. I use Tumaro's low-carb multigrain tortillas. They are delicious and healthier than most white flour tortillas found at major grocery stores.
4. I opted for reduced fat cheddar cheese made with 2% milk instead of the kind made with whole milk. However, these burritos would probably just as good without cheese, which I might try next time I make these.