Monday, November 22, 2010

Black Bean Sweet Potato Enchilada Casserole


I added corn to the batch in the photo, which is tasty, but totally unnecessary.

2 cups dry black beans, cooked with 1 teaspoon of salt added to the broth when fully cooked, (drain broth away before adding to the recipe) OR 2 15 ounce cans of black beans, drained and rinsed
4-5 cups diced garnet sweet potatoes, steamed for 15 minutes until tender
12 corn tortillas

Mole Sauce (adapted from the pantry mole rojo in Vegan Brunch)

1 TBS olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
5 tsps chili powder (you want real chili powder, not some chili powder blend with cumin and garlic and oregano diluting the goodness. We'll add those seperately).
2 tsps Mexican Oregano (this is not the same thing as plain oregano. It's a different spice, and is better in this recipe. If you don't have any, substitute regular oregano or marjoram or a combination of the two, and go get some for next time. It's in a plastic baggie in the ethnic foods section).
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp smoked paprika (You don't have any!?! Why not? They have it for cheap at Costco, now. Fine. Use regular paprika this time).
1 14 ounce can diced tomatoes
2 cups of water (Isa Chandra Moskowitz tells you to use broth. She also thought you needed 2 tablespoons of olive oil back there, and sliced almonds in addition to the peanut butter, all of which are fine and good, but this is my recipe, and I say water works fine and that it is rich enough with just the peanut butter).
3 TBS creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup crushed corn tortilla chips (this is a great place to use up stale ones, but fresh work fine, too)
1/4 cup of raisins (I never measure this, I just throw in a handful)
1/3 cup vegan chocolate chips (My favorite is Safeway/Vons O brand. Watch for them on sale in December and stock up)
3 cloves crushed garlic

Saute the onion in the olive oil until translucent. Add spices, stirring to keep them from scorching, adding a little water if needed. Add all of the remaining ingredients except for the garlic and the chocolate and simmer for about 15 minutes. Use a food processor, a blender or (best) an immersion blender to puree this into a smooth sauce. Stir the chocolate chips and the garlic in. Try not to eat the sauce like soup.

Layer about a quarter of the sauce on the bottom of a baking dish. I usually use a 9x9, but a 9x13 will work too. Cover the sauce with 4 tortillas, then half the beans and half the sweet potatoes. Add another quarter of the sauce, another layer of tortillas, then the other half of the beans and sweet potatoes. Top with sauce, another layer of sweet potatoes, and the last 4 tortillas. Top it off with the last of the sauce. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes (You can refrigerate this for a while at this step instead. Increase baking time to 45 minutes if you do). I like this with a little bit of Tofutti Better than Sour Cream on top, but it doesn't need it.

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