Sweet Potato and Black Bean Tostadas

Last Friday I had my younger brother over for a birthday dinner. I gave him about six menu options, and he chose sweet potato and black bean tostadas. This is an original recipe I came up with last summer, and I was excited to repeat it! I love sweet potatoes in any form, and especially in this combination of colors and flavors.

As usual, I'm making up amounts after the fact, so don't worry about sticking too closely to the recipe. Do what sounds good to you. Warning: these can be tricky to eat!

Sweet Potato & Black Bean Tostadas (serves 3-4)
Ingredients

• 1 large sweet potato, diced
  
• 1 can black beans, rinsed (or equivalent in dried beans, cooked and rinsed)
• 1 large onion, diced
  
• 2+ cloves garlic, minced (I think I used three)
• a lot of spinach (I used fresh baby spinach from a bag and ran out - you can use fresh or frozen, but you'll probably want 6-8 cooked servings)
• 8+ corn tostada shells (or flour tortillas, for burritos)
  
• olive oil
• 1 tbsp. cumin
• 1 tsp. coriander (optional)
  
• salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper/hot sauce to taste
  

Directions

1. Heat a splash of olive oil in a large pan that has a cover (I use my 3.5 qt. saute pan). Add sweet potato, onion, cumin, coriander, and cayenne; stir to coat, then saute covered for about 30 minutes. Add beans for last ten minutes.
   
2. In the meantime, heat some oil in a frying pan and add garlic. Saute for a couple minutes, then add spinach a handful at a time and cover to wilt, adding a little water if needed. Repeat until all spinach is wilted (if you are using frozen spinach, just saute until cooked).
3. To assemble: place some spinach on a tostada shell, then top with a large scoop of the sweet potato/bean mixture. Add salt, pepper, and/or hot sauce to taste.

Eat leftovers for breakfast, hot or cold, wrapped in a flour tortilla.