I’m delighted to report that I was invited to do a guest post over at The Three Little Piglets this morning on healthy eating. Thanks for the invitation Jen.
One of my biggest objectives as a nutritionist is to show people that healthy eating doesn’t have to be complicated or time-consuming. Nor does it have to be tasteless or boring!
All you need is a few wholesome ingredients, and you’re well on your way. These black bean burritos are a good example. They are full of health-building nutrients and the entire recipe only calls for 6 ingredients.
You’ll have a perfect weeknight meal – or game day meal – in less than 20 minutes.
Let’s have a closer look.
Nutrient Highlights:
Black Beans are rich in folate, magnesium, phosphorus and iron. They are also high in fibre and an excellent source of vegetable based protein.
Sweet Potatoes offer an outstanding source of beta-carotene (outranking virtually all other vegetables in this category), and are packed with disease fighting antioxidants. They are also an excellent source of vitamin C, fibre, niacin and vitamin B6.
Avocados, for their part, are an excellent source of health-building monounsaturated
fat, as well as a good source of fibre, folate, vitamin K, vitamin E, and vitamin B5. Avocados are also rich in lutein, a carotenoid that operates as an antioxidant to help protect our eyes from disease.
Cooked Tomatoes are one of the best dietary sources of lycopene, a potent antioxidant with cancer-fighting potential.
Arugula (or Rocket), like most green leafy vegetables, is rich in vitamin K and a good source of vitamin C, folate and magnesium. Green leafies are also an outstanding source of lutein and zeaxanthin, two carotenoids that operate as antioxidants to help protect our eyes from age-related macular degeneration and cataracts.
The best news is that all of these ingredients also happen to taste delicious – especially when they come together in a warming, satisfying burrito. The peppery arugula really comes through in this recipe, making it especially delightful.
Sweet Potato and Black Bean Burritos with Avocado and Arugula
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1 cooked sweet potato, diced with skin left on preferably
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2 cups cooked black beans, well rinsed if using canned
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1 large ripe avocado, diced
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1 cup arugula
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1 cup natural salsa of your choice, or 2 large chopped tomatoes with a sprinkle of sea salt
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4 large spinach tortillas, or whole grain tortillas of your choice
Serves 4
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Notes:
I like to provide options in my recipe suggestions so that people don’t feel like it’s an all or nothing proposition.
I tend to bake my sweet potatoes because I like the taste and texture that arises from the roasting process (including the skin where plenty of nutrients reside). I often toss vegetables in the oven in the morning while I’m preparing breakfast or making my sons’ lunches and simply re-heat when I need them later in the day. For the sweet potato, I suggest 400 F for about 20-25 minutes – just until al dente (sweet potatoes cook faster than white potatoes).
If you prefer, you can boil the sweet potato (being mindful that you will lose some of the water soluble nutrients), or prick the potato and cook it in the microwave (about 3 minutes on high – it cooks fairly quickly).
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15 minutes before serving time, simply combine beans and salsa in a medium size pot on the stove until the mixture just comes to a boil. Reduce and simmer.
Meanwhile, if you cooked your potato earlier in the day and it has now cooled, simply toss the diced pieces in a skillet (dry or with some olive oil) or microwave and heat for a couple minutes.
Lay the four tortillas out on a flat surface and, using half the portion of arugula (1/2 cup), sprinkle a few leaves in the middle of each tortilla shell.
Top the leaves of each tortilla with roughly 1/2 cup mixture of beans and salsa and then add a divided portion of warm potatoes and avocado. Finally, top each tortilla with the remaining arugula.
Beginning with outer edges of shell, tuck, pinch and roll tortilla before cutting it in half.
Here is a helpful illustration on how to wrap a tortilla
Enjoy!
These look fantastic. I love sweet potatoes and think they’re totally underutilized (you can do way more than sweet potato casserole). Great idea to use them with black beans and avocado
That looks incredibly fresh and delicious — this burritos reminds me of summer :)
Oh this looks so delicious! I’m going to check it out at Jen’s site.
Thanks Junia – meet too… I’m playing around with some right now :)
Thanks Eliot – they’re pretty darn yummy… :)
It’s a satisfying meal full of goodness! Thanks Alyssa ~
delicious and simple. i love sweet potatoes!!! i’m going to put them into my burrito next time!
I love the sweet potato and black bean burritos that I get at a local Mexican locally inspired restaurant. These look great!
Looks wonderful! Very filling but wouldn’t leave me feeling guilty (as most burritos do!)
It is a good lunch option… quick, healthy, satisfying… hard to go wrong! Cheers Stephanie – hope you’re having a great Sunday.
Hi Charlie and welcome to Inspired Edibles! Thank you so much for dropping by and saying hello. You know, everytime I see your profile pick I smile… how great is that!? :)
Thanks so much Magic of Spice – I appreciate you stopping by Jen’s site as well. Cheers.
Thanks Joanne – some of my very favourites too! Glad you liked.
Excellent guest post, Kelly! I saved the recipe so I can make it for lunches one week. I tend to get really sick of meals if I eat them too often and I ALWAYS struggle with lunch. This would be perfect!
Hi, I found your blog because you have been tagged by With a Glass! What delicious looking wraps and I love the combination of ingredients. And you wrap wraps so well!
These look incredible! I will go check out your guest post :)
A burrito full of all my favorite ingredients…yes please!
Thanks Caroline! I hope your day is going well.
Ah yes, the travel stops… I know the dilemma well – lol. I hope you enjoy these if you give them a try Eva. Thanks for popping by Jen’s blog to say hello :)
Thanks France… this one is so easy but so full of goodness… a great on the go meal any time of day (including breakfast!)
Thanks Tiffany for saying hello on both sides :)
Thanks so much Mandy! I hope you’re having a great day :)
Thanks Parsley Sage – I hope these work for you. We love them!
Thanks Sissi – I still have so much to learn about food photography – but it is fun and I’m enjoying the joruney. I hope you enjoy Jen’s blog – thanks for dropping in to say hello.
Thanks Ann – I thought so too – Jen is so great.
Aww, I hope you enjoyed your birthday Kay… with plenty of celebrating and naughty, birthday, deliciousness!! ;-)
ha.ha, thanks so much Chris – you’re too kind but keep it coming! ;-)
For sure you can eat the skin! Check out my Roasted Sweet Potato Fries with Chili Garlic… the skin is at least half the joy! :-0) https://www.inspirededibles.ca/2011/10/sweet-potato-chili-fries-with-roasted.html
Thanks so much (though, I will admit, I’m not sure what Plus One’ing means… ;0)
Great Linda, thanks – I hope you enjoy Jen’s blog!
Thanks Rachel…
Thanks so much Kim ~ I wish I had it for lunch today too! :)
Thanks Lisa – you’ll enjoy getting to know Jen.
Thanks Kristy – thought you might dig the black beans more than my chocolate – hee.hee ;=)
Cheers Suzi – I hope you enjoy.
Thanks Laura – Saturday is a fine night for Mexican :)
Jen, it was a genuine pleasure – I always say that one of the greatest things about this blogging adventure has been meeting amazing people from all around the world – like you!
Thanks Emily… we have a Mexican spot around the corner and it’s so tempting to order out for lunch – frequently! ;-)
Yum yum yum! Some of my favorite ingredients. This looks so fresh, healthy aaand delicious. :)
Absolutely delightful, Kelly. I love it. I will have to bookmark this for cottage season where we drive for 3.5 hours and instead of stopping for a bad bite, I usually make wraps for the trip home (either lunch or dinner). I know JT will love this with the great flavours you have packaged up! I was over at Three Little Piglets, what a lovely blog, thanks for the tip and congratulations on your guest post!
You never disappoint. I can always count on you to put something flavor forward yet delicious. This looks like a great lunch or even a dinner on the fly.
Beautiful! (I also left a comment at Jen’s site!) :D
Another one of your recipes I would be very happy enjoying for breakfast, lunch and dinner!
:-) Mandy
Holy moly! This looks fantastic :) I never make veggie burritos cause I can never think of a way to make them tasty…problem solved!
Congratulations for the guest post! These burritos look very original and delicious! The making-of photos are gorgeous. You must give me lessons :-)
I’m hopping now to Jen’s blog!
It was a brilliant post! What a terrific duo you two make!
And here you are Kelly.. to make me eat healthy after I had a birthday full of bad but wonderful treats LOL. But I would be happy to eat these wonderful black bean burritos. Congrats on the guest appearance :)
What a fun, colorful, delicious looking meal this is!! Wow, it almost looks like it should be in a frame and hung on a wall somewhere – but that wouldn’t be good cause all we could do is drool over it! Yum, Kelly you make healthy look so…….. wonderful!
Ok, dumb question of the day, but can you eat sweet potato skin? :o I can’t believe I didn’t know this!
Beautiful burritoes Kelly – I bet they’re wonderfully filling, and taste great too… and avocado too – oh yes!
Beautiful ingredients and beautiful, healthy looking burritos. I’m printing this recipe! Buzzed, Tweeted, and Plus Oned you!
Kelly, this is so pretty….can’t wait to check out the recipe. The photo with the arugula leaf is stunning!!
My goodness these look so very delicious.
OOOO, I wish I had this for lunch today :) Brilliant.
Xxx KISS
My Inner Chick http://myinnerchick.com
My Inner
Mmm, looks good. Heading over there right now!
I’m certainly heading over…these are right up my alley. :)
Perfect, heading over to check out your guest post.
Going to check this out right now – looks like Saturday night will be Mexican night!
You’ve really outdone yourself Kelly! Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing with me today. I really appreciate it!!
Heading on over…this is one of my favorite burritos at a local joint. Love it!