These flavorful chipotle sweet potato tostadas are topped with a layer of black beans and rich vegan crema, made from blended avocados, cilantro and lime juice.
This seems to happen about every year at this time. It’s freezing cold and snowy one day, and then suddenly, it’s hot. Okay, warm? Warm(er) than it was? Fine, it’s safe to at least say there’s some sort of abrupt change. I’m not sure about you guys in other parts of the world, but it’s a complaint we all have here in the northeast. Anyhow, it always puts me into a frenzy to take down the Christmas tree (it’s true), find some summer clothes, and wrap up all of my blog posts devoted to stuff like winter squash and sweet potatoes. Spoiler: I’ll be hitting the sweet potatoes pretty hard this year. Sweet potatoes are one of those things I just buy, any time I see them. I know I’ll use them. So I’ve got a bunch of sweet potatoes and a bunch of sweet potato ideas.
This particular sweet potato recipe…well let’s just say this is the kind of thing that fuels my sweet potato purchasing compulsion. I’ve made a few versions of black bean tostadas before. The sweet potatoes and the avocado lime crema are both new. They pretty much transformed something I thought was really good into my favorite thing ever.
I usually feel compelled to add a little sweetness to balance out the flavor when I make refried beans. In this recipe, the sweet potatoes took care of that for me, and added some entirely new flavors and textures. In other words, they made it awesome.
While I love the black bean and sweet potato combo on a crispy tostada shell, there’s a lot you could do with it. My husband threw the leftovers on a salad for lunch the next day. It also struck me that the toppings for my sweet potato tostadas would work great in burrito or nacho form. I’m sure there are a bunch of other dishes I haven’t even though of. My suggestion: make extra, get creative and let me know how it all works out.
Black Bean and Chipotle Roasted Sweet Potato Tostadas with Avocado Lime Crema
Ingredients
For the Chipotle Roasted Sweet Potatoes
- 1 large sweet potato peeled and diced into 1/2 inch cubes
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 tsp. chipotle chili powder
- 1/4 tsp. salt
For the Avocado Lime Crema
- 1 ripe avocado
- 1/4 cup unflavored soy or almond milk
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro
- 2 tbsp. lime juice
- 1/4 tsp. salt
For the Refried Black Beans
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 onion diced
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1-14 oz. can black beans rinsed and drained
- 1 tbsp. lime juice
- 1 tsp. ground cumin
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. pepper
For the Tostadas
- 6 corn tortillas
- 2 tsp. olive oil
- few dashes salt
- 2 cups shredded lettuce
Instructions
Make the Chipotle Roasted Sweet Potatoes
- Preheat oven to 400º. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Toss sweet potatoes with olive oil, chipotle chili powder and salt to coat. Arrange in an even layer on baking sheet. Bake until tender and lightly crispy on the outsides, about 25 minutes, tossing halfway through.
Make the Avocado Lime Crema
- While sweet potatoes roast, place all ingredients in blender or food processor bowl and blend until smooth and creamy, stopping to scrape down sides of bowl or pitcher as needed.
Make the Refried Black Beans
- Heat oil in medium skillet over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until soft, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and sauté 1 minute more. Add beans, lime juice, cumin, salt and pepper. Sauté 2 minutes more. Remove from heat.
- Mash beans lightly with a potato masher. Add a couple of tablespoons of water if the mixture becomes too dry, and mix well.
Make the Tostadas
- Brush both sides of tortillas lightly with olive oil and place on baking sheet. Sprinkle lightly with salt.
- When your sweet potatoes have about 10 minutes of cook time left, place baking sheet into oven. Cook until tortillas are slightly darkened and crispy, about 10 minutes.
- Transfer tortillas to plates and spread each with refried black beans. Top with lettuce, sweet potatoes and crema.
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