Sweet Potato Paradise Casserole

I have been wanting to try this for a while and finally decided this week was the time to jump in and give it a whirl.  You know, it is one of those recipes I found online but kept putting it off. Well put it off no more! This thing was amazing.

Let me preface - it takes some work up front but it is one of those dishes that you can prep while your kiddos eat lunch (and watch cartoons - am I the only one who does that?). Then you can just pop it in the oven at 5:00 and be ready for dinner.  So it does take some prepping but the outcome is delicious.

Here Is What You Need

-3 sweet potatoes (peeled and cubed)

-3 cups cooked quinoa

-2 cans black beans (drained and rinsed)

-1/2 medium onion chopped

-1/2 tablespoon minced garlic (I just buy the jar kind)

-oil (coconut, extra virgin olive oil or even just some Pam)

Here Is What You Do:

1. Here is how I did it to prep early:  At lunch time I peeled, cubed, and boiled the potatoes. Basically to do that I just covered them with water, sprinkled in a bit of salt, and let them come to a boil. Then I turned it down to low and left it there approximately 45 minutes.  

2. Once they are soft drain them, add in a tablespoon of olive oil or so (the original recipe calls for 1/4c EVOO but that seemed like a lot to me) and mash away.  Then I put some foil on top and stuck in the fridge.

3.  Cook your quinoa according to package instructions. For me that means adding 1 C quinoa to 2 C water and bringing to a boil. Turn the heat down and simmer 10 minutes.  

Ok so I did all of that during lunch time and just stored it in the fridge but you can do it all together at dinner if you'd like.

4.  Chop the onion and saute in the pan with olive oil over medium heat until translucent (about 4 minutes).  Add in garlic and saute a few minutes more.  Finally add in beans and heat through.  

To assemble the dish:

5. Preheat the oven to 350 and grease an 8x8 pan. So my 8x8 pan was dirty and I used a 9x13 and it worked perfectly.

6.  Pack the quinoa in the bottom tightly.

7.  Add in the beans on top, mashing down with the back of the spatula.

8.  Add the sweet potatoes on top and smooth.

(Don't those layers look divine!)

9. Bake 30-40 minutes or until you see the edges started to turn golden brown.

Look at those toasty potatoes!

10. Let stand about 10 minutes and serve.

This was so good. I loved the mixture of sweet potatoes and black beans. Who would have thought? You can make this spicy by using a spicy black bean mix if you'd like. I kept mine nice and neutral. We served this with a clean spinach salad and fruit kabobs. Man I'm about to go digging in the fridge for some left overs right now...

Enjoy!

Original recipe from here: http://healthymamainfo.com/2011/03/paradise-casserole/