Sweet Potato and Black Bean Quesadilla with Swiss Chard Pesto

It’s been hot here lately folks. And that’s a mostly nice thing. What it means is that cooking usually doesn’t take long in the kitchen because no one wants to be in there. I love this recipe from Closet Cooking because it used a bunch of my CSA, packs a ton of protein, is mostly good for you, and is ridiculously delicious. The quesadilla recipe itself is for one, but with the amount of everything else you’re making, you can easily double or triple the quesadillas you make. Have some friends over or something. All the modifications were based on what I had available at home/could find at the store.

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Quesadillas with Swiss Chard Pesto slightly modified from Closet Cooking:

Serves 1

Quesadilla-

1 tortilla

½ c. (or less) shredded cheddar cheese

¼ c. chipotle roasted sweet potatoes and chipotle black beans

1 Tb. swiss chard pesto

Chipotle Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Black Beans-

2 large sweet potatoes, scrubbed, dried and cut into ½” cubes

2 Tb. oil, separated

2 Tb. chipotle in adobo sauce, minced and separated

2 tsp. ground cumin, separated

1 small onion, diced

2 clove garlic, chopped

1 (19 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed

Swiss Chard Pesto-

1 bunch swiss chard, coarsely chopped

1 handful cilantro, coarsely chopped

1 jalapeño, coarsely chopped

2 cloves garlic

¼ c. pine nuts, toasted

½ c. olive oil

½ lime, juiced

Salt and freshly pepper to taste

To make the sweet potatoes and black beans, toss the sweet potato in 1 tablespoon each of oil and chipotle and 1 teaspoon of cumin, place on a baking sheet in a single layer and roast in a preheated 400F oven until tender, about 30-40 minutes. Do this early in the day if it’s going to be a hot one.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until tender, about 3-5 minutes. Add the garlic, remaining chipotle and cumin and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the beans and cook until warm, a few minutes. Mix with the sweet potatoes.

To make the pesto, puree all of the ingredients together in a food processor. You can do this a day or two ahead of time. There will be a lot, so try it out on a bunch of stuff.

To assemble the quesadilla, place the tortilla in the pan, sprinkle half of the cheese over half of the tortilla, then top with the chipotle roasted sweet potatoes and chipotle black beans, swiss chard pesto and the remaining cheese. Fold the tortilla in half coving the filling and cook until the quesadilla is golden brown on both sides and the cheese is melted, about 2-4 minutes per side. Serve garnished with more salsa, some sour cream or yogurt and whatever other toppings you like.

Ravioli

Ravioli is super easy to make, especially once you’ve already got the hang of making pasta. You can fill it with anything you like, easily changing a meat based recipe like this one to a vegetarian one. The best part is that this doesn’t take long at all.

Ravioli:

Serves 2 with leftovers

1 recipe egg pasta

½ lb. ground meat (turkey, beef, or some combination of what you like)

¼ c. ricotta

4 garlic cloves, minced

Salt & pepper

Basil

Oregano

1 egg, beaten

Sauce of your choice

Prepare the pasta. Roll it out as you would for long noodles, but leave in sheets. Set aside to dry.

Mix together all other ingredients except egg. Roll into balls and evenly space them across the dried pasta sheets, leaving another sheet to place on top of this one. When all of the meat (or pasta) is used up, brush the beaten egg in the spaces between the filling balls. This acts as a binder for the top sheet. Take the other sheets and press them down on top of the meat filled side. Create pockets for the filling, pressing down firmly to remove as much air as possible from each pocket.

Using a knife or a pastry cutter, cut the pockets into squares. Place the ravioli into a pot of boiling salted water. Like all fresh pasta, these do not take long to cook, 3-4 minutes at the most. Serve warm with any sauce (marinara is always good).

A fast and very tasty way to do a weekday meal. I like that the basic idea lends itself to many different types of ravioli, depending on what you like to use to fill it.