Sweet-Potato Enchiladas

You want to make these. You want to make them soooo baaaaaad.

Ingredients:

• 1 package (24oz) mashed sweet potatoes OR homemade ones (recipe follows)
• 4 oz Neufchâtel cream cheese (1/2 package)
• 1 Tbsp. taco seasoning (or chili powder, or a few dashes red pepper)
• 12 corn tortillas
• 1 can (10 oz) green enchilada sauce
• 1 cup shredded mexican cheese blend (or whatever cheese, I used Colby)
• Oil for greasing and frying.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 13×9 inch baking dish with 1 teaspoon oil. In a medium bowl, mix together sweet potatoes, cream cheese, and seasoning (either taco seasoning, or if you don’t have that, try a few dashes of crushed red pepper or red pepper flakes, taste it! Do not over season!). Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a medium or large skillet over medium-high heat. Fry tortillas one at a time, about 20 seconds per side, adding more oil as the pan gets dry, moving tortillas to a paper towel to drain.

If you don’t want to heat a skillet, try this enchilada prep technique: line a microwave safe plate with a paper towel. Lightly spray both sides of a tortilla with non-stick cooking spray, set down. Then, spray ONE SIDE only of each following tortilla (so that each side will be in contact with the spray, but no need to over due it) and stack on top of each other. Loosely wrap the stack with paper towel, and microwave 30 seconds or until tortillas are soft and pliable (but not too hot).

Spread about 1/3 cup of filling down the middle of each tortilla (I rested each tortilla on top of a folded paper towel in my hand as i filled them, as some were still hot and this soaked up more oil). Fold sides over and place seam-side down in greased pan. Top with enchilada sauce and grated cheese. Bake until sauce bubbles and cheese melts, about 30 minutes.

Yes, it sounds weird. Yes, it is deliiiicious.

Now, if you are like me, you have no idea where the hell you get a 24oz package of mashed sweet potatoes. And if you did, why would you do that when you could make your own? So here is what I did instead, I made my own.

Ingredients:

• 2 large sweet potatoes or 3 medium/small ones, about 1.5 to 2 lbs.
• 1/2 – 1 cup chicken broth
• salt and pepper

Directions:

Peel your sweet potatoes and cut into chunks (this will help them cook faster). Put chunks in a medium saucepan and cover with salted water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer about 15-18 minutes or until fork tender.

Drain, return to saucepan (turn off and remove from heat). Begin to mash and add broth as you mash, I only used a bit more than 1/2 a cup (I only had 1.5 lbs of sweet potato), but you may use more depending on how many sweet potatoes you use. You can also add a couple tablespoons of butter at this point but because this will have cream cheese added to it, I did not deem butter necessary. Season with salt and pepper. At this point, add your cream cheese and seasoning to the saucepan and finish recipe there instead of in a medium bowl. The heat will help the cream cheese blend in perfectly. remember to taste as you season if you are using red pepper. I used it and it came out GREAT! Spicy but not overwhelmingly so. You can also use this as a basic, not-overly-sweetened mashed sweet potato recipe for other dishes and meals.