Sadly enough, this is the first time I’ve used a recipe inspired by one of Ottawa’s many fantastic food bloggers.

A few weeks ago Kelly tweeted a picture of the sweet potato and black bean burritos she made on her super fun blog, The Gouda Life.

Her pictures made my mouth water.  I tweeted back at Kelly in excitement of my food discovery, and almost immediately got a reply from my friend Gord over at the Savoury Starving Student.  Apparently he made a dish very similar to this last summer.  Two trusted bloggers endorsing a recipe?  I was sold.

I filed this one away to make for later.  When I found out Matt was coming to visit for the weekend, I decided this was the perfect time to use it.  I always feel bad making such extravagant meals for myself, so I have no choice but to take full advantage of visiting guests.  I don’t think they mind.

Since I have never once succeeded in making a wrap/burrito/taco look photogenic in any of my shots, I decided on an alternative serving method for this meal.

And so, the burrito bowl was born.

After a last-minute, neurotic kitchen breakdown sparked by me trying to bake the small tortillas into bowl form, Matt (my voice of reason, apparently), suggested we broil them.  Of course he was right, and the crisis was averted in mere minutes.

One thing I will say about this meal was that it dirtied a record-breaking amount of bowls (this is an impressive statement coming from a girl who almost always uses every dish in her kitchen to make dinner) and required the carefully timed co-ordination of cooking methods.  With three different meal components: the lime zested black beans, Mexican rice and sweet potato mash, not to mention the creation of the aforementioned tortilla bowls, this was quite the ordeal.

The end result was awesome, though.  Happy porch eating times were achieved.

PS: did you know that cutting jalapeño peppers can burn your fingertips?  Luckily I found this out just as I was about to slice in.  I created tiny thimbles for my fingers using aluminum foil, and thanked google for informing me of such a thing.

Recipe: Sweet potato and black bean burrito bowls
Adapted from The Gouda Life

Note: the order you see the components is the order in which I made them.  This worked without a hitch, until I was required to make my tortilla bowls.  Plan accordingly!

Roasted mashed sweet potatoes
– 1 large sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
– Olive oil
– 1 tsp smoked paprika (optional)
– 1 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 400°. 

In a large roasting pan, add potatoes, paprika and enough oil to lightly coat everything. Roast until potatoes are easily pierced with a fork, about 25-30 minutes. Mashed with a fork until you have a textured paste. 

Mexican rice
– 1 cup white rice
– 1 tbsp butter
– 2 cups chicken stock or water
– 1 small onion, diced
– 2 tbsp oil
– 1 jalapeño, diced (optional)
– 3 cloves of garlic, minced
– 1/4 cup tomato paste
– 1 tbsp lime juice
– 1/2 cup of cilantro, chopped
– 2 tsp cumin
– Salt to taste

In a medium pot, add the stock, butter and rice. Bring to a boil, stir once and cover. Turn heat down to medium-low to simmer, and cook for about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit, covered, for 10 minutes.

While rice is cooking, add onion and oil to a large skillet over medium heat. Let onion cook for about 10 minutes or until just starting to brown. Add the garlic and jalapeno and let cook for an additional minute. Stir in tomato paste, lime juice, cilantro and cumin. Taste and season with salt. Set aside.

Lime-zested black beans
-1 can black beans, strained and rinsed
– Juice and zest from 1 lime
– Salt to taste

Add beans and lime juice and zest to a pot over medium heat. Cook until warmed through. Using a fork or a potato masher, smoosh beans until they are smooth but still have some texture to them.

Tortilla bowls
– 6 small tortillas

Set oven to broil.  Shape tortillas inside of small, oven safe bowls (I used my mini pyrex ones) and place in oven.  Leave in until sides turn light brown and tortilla retains shape when removed from bowl.

To toss in with your rice, sweet potato and beans, I used grated cheddar cheese, cilantro, avocado slices, sour cream and salsa.  Garnish as you wish, and enjoy!  Makes 6-ish burrito bowls.