Bean & Yam Burritos

I came across this when looking for this week's menu. We made them once before and they were fantastic! Most of it is done in the  slow-cooker.

2 med. yams or sweet potatoes

1 large yellow onion

1 green bell pepper

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 large green chile

1 T. olive oil

1 T. chili powder

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. dried oregano

1 c. frozen corn kernels

1 can kidney beans, drained

4 10-inch flour tortillas

1 c. cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese

1. Cut the yams into 1/2 inch cubes. Thinly slice the onion. Stem, seed, and finely chop the bell pepper. Stem, seed, and dice the greed chile. Set aside with the garlic.

2. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, garlic, and green chile and saute for 3-4 minutes. Stir in the chili powder, cumin, and oregano and cook for 1 minute more.

3. In a slow cooker, layer half the yams, and then top with half each of the onion mixture, corn, and beans. Repeat the layers. Cover and cook on the Low setting until the yams are tender, 5-6 hours.

4. Preheat the oven to 350. Divide the mixture evenly among the tortillas and scatter with the cheese. Fold to enclose the filling and place in a greased baking pan. Cover with foil and bake the burritos for 25-30 minutes. Serve hot.

Whole Wheat tortillas

I admit that I usually don't measure this, but here is an approximation. You can also use this basic recipe to make chapatis for Indian food - in that case its yummy to mix in some cardomon (sp?) seeds or I guess you could do cumin and black mustard.

2 cups whole wheat flour (white-wheat from king arthur works great)
.5-1 tsp salt I like them saltier.
2 T oil. You can use olive oil, plain oil or lard.
apx. 1/2 cup warm tap water
*optional* 1 tsp baking powder

Combine dry. Add oil. Add water a bit at a time until its like bread dough. Knead for a couple minutes. Let it rest for 15 minutes to half an hour. Roll out on floured surface. This makes a huge number or tortillas actually. like 25 or something, taco sized.

Cook on hot, heavy bottomed pan. They should puff up. Excess flour will scorch and burn tortillas, so its a good idea to brush the pan out after every batch. Flip and cook a few more seconds until done. I usually the put them in a covered dish until I've cooked all the dough. Kid friendly activity/recipe.