let's eat

The following is one of my family's favorite meals we make. It comes from the Simply In Season cookbook with a few modifications. I have had some requests from friends for the recipe and offer it to all of you. I serve it with a good corn salad, whose recipe is below.

Black Bean Sweet Potato Burritos
from Simply In Season cookbook
yields 8

3 cups sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
1/2 onion, chopped
Saute in a large frying pan in 1 tbsp oil just until tender. Add water or apple juice as needed to prevent sticking.

2 cups cooked black beans
1 tsp each ground cumin and ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
Add and cook until heated through.

8 flour tortillas, each fried briefly in vegetable oil on both sides to soften
1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded or Mexican cheese
Divide bean mixture and cheese among the tortillas and roll up. Place in a 9 x 13 inch baking pan. Separate those burritos you do not want smothered in enchilada sauce by cupping them in tin foil. Smother the rest with prepared enchilada sauce (see below). Cover pan with foil and bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes. Garnish with sour cream, salsa, avocado and/or fresh cilantro.

Enchilada Sauce: My favorite is found at Whole Foods and looks like this:
I mix it with a little oil and a lot of water, per package instructions. What isn't used for this round of enchiladas I store in a jar in the fridge for the next batch.
Corn Salad
from Mexican Family Favorites Cookbook
serves 6

12 oz. can whole kernel corn, drained
1/2 medium red onion, chopped
1 fresh tomato, chopped
1/2 cup diced green bell pepper
1 tbsp chopped parsley
salt/ pepper to taste
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup green onion, chopped
3 tbsp white vinegar
In a bowl, mix all ingredients and chill for 30 minutes. Garnish with avocado slices.

consider eating seasonally, while the getting is still good

Bare with me through this one.
The end of summer is near; I feel it on the air. Two emotions kick in for me: squirrel instincts and dread of winter. I begin to build my nest up for the cold: freezer jam, canning tomatoes, apple pie filling, grape juice, and, later, cleaning house and garden from front to back--it's autumn fever for me, not spring.
When the dread of five p.m. darkness lurks into my thoughts, I remind myself that we are not so distant from our bear cousins. Winter is a good time for turning the furniture toward the fireplace, baking that stored-up apple pie filling, and consuming all the seasons of Northern Exposure (or whatever your fix may be). It's also okay to lay around for four months and gain ten pounds, as long as I come out of my cave running next spring.
ANYWAY, I want to make a huge plug here for canning, freezing, drying, or whatever method you can use to take year-round advantage of home or nearby grown produce. (Check out the ever-helpful and resourceful Utah State Extension for instruction on how to can/dry/freeze/store any foods). Eating in season is one of the greatest dietary decisions we can make to lessen our carbon footprint on the earth. Living in Utah and eating in season can mean a hell-of-a-lot of winter squash, beans and potatoes unless you have:

• done a little (or a lot) of preparation in the fall, and/or,
  
• purchased the greatest cookbook for eating seasonally and really liking it--Simply In Season
  

It is available online (click the title) or at Ten Thousand Villages in Sugar House. Not only does it have the most sure-fire delicious recipes for all the seasonal foods, but it has the best (I'm not exaggerating) brownie recipe ever. The cookbook comes from the Mennonite Central Community.

"Through stories and simple “whole foods” recipes, Simply in Season...explores how the food we put on our tables impacts our local and global neighbors. It shows the importance of eating local, seasonal food — and fairly traded food — inviting readers to make choices that offer security and health for our communities, for the land, for body and spirit."