Sweet Potato and Black Bean Quesadilla

I'm not a huge fan of sweet potatoes, but I love black beans, so I saw this recipe in the Cookbook entitled My Beef with Meat, I decided to run it.  This cookbook follows the China Study and Forks Over Knives both of which advocate a plant based diet to lower cholesterol and lose weight.  Let's take a look at the recipe

1 large sweet potato (I used a microwaveable sweet potato)
1 cup cooked brown rice
1 cup salsa, plus more for serving
1 cup fresh spinach
1 cup black beans, drained and rinsed
8 ounces vegetarian, no-added-oil refried beans
¼ teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon chili powder
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
6 to 8 whole wheat tortillas (make sure there is no lard in the tortillas)




Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

An hour before you plan to eat, peel and quarter the sweet potato. Bake the sweet potato on the lined pan in the oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until soft.

Meanwhile, prepare the rice on the stovetop or in a rice cooker. Remove the sweet potato from the oven and transfer to a mixing bowl. Mash the sweet potato with the salsa, rice, and fresh spinach. Place the sweet potato mash in a saucepan and mix in the black beans and refried beans and heat the mixture thoroughly over medium heat. Add the onion powder, chili powder, and cumin to taste, and stir to incorporate.

Place a tortilla in a nonstick frying pan over medium heat and slather the side facing up with the sweet potato–bean mixture. Add jalapeños, if using. Place a second whole wheat tortilla on top of the first. Press down on the top tortilla with a spatula, then cook in the pan for about 3 minutes. Flip the tortilla with the spatula and cook the opposite side for 3 minutes more. Voilà!

Cut into the desired number of sections. Serve topped with salsa.

Here is a look at the finished product.