By Rissa Miller, Vegetarian Journal Senior Editor

Occasionally you find a recipe that works for any meal: breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snack. You’ve stumbled onto just such a meal. Tender roasted sweet potato stuffed with a savory, spiced black bean, quinoa, and veggie filling will satisfy anytime of day. Top it anyway you would a favorite taco/burrito and you’re set to chow down.

2 large sweet potatoes

1 cup water

1/2 cup quinoa

1 teaspoon taco seasoning

1/2 small onion (about 1/2 cup)

1/2 cup chopped bell pepper

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained

2-3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoon nutritional yeast

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 Tablespoons salsa (optionally more to serve)

2 Tablespoons orange juice (about 1/2 fresh orange)

Zest from 1 orange

To serve: chopped parsley, cilantro, jalapeno, green onion; avocado/guac; salsa or any cheezy sauce you like.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and bake sweet potatoes, wrapped in foil, for one hour until tender when pierced with a fork. Set aside to cool when done. 

     While baking sweet potatoes, prepare quinoa. In a saucepan, bring water to a boil. Add quinoa and taco seasoning, cover, and cook for 10-15 minutes. Stir occasionally while cooking; quinoa is done when all liquid is absorbed and quinoa is fluffy. Set aside.

     In a large skillet, sauté onion and bell pepper in olive oil over medium heat until onions are lightly browned and fragrant, about 2-4 minutes. Add black beans, garlic, cumin, paprika, nutritional yeast, oregano, salt, salsa, and orange juice, as well as prepared quinoa. Stir well to combine and heat over low heat for 3-6 minutes, until the mixture is warm. Just before serving, stir in orange zest.

     To serve, slice baked sweet potatoes lengthwise and squish to open the top wide up. Top each potato with half of the quinoa-black bean filling. Top with your favorites such as chopped parsley/cilantro/jalapeno/green onion, avocado/guac, more salsa or a vegan cheezy sauce.

In the photo, Jalapeno Cashew Cream is shown, recipe at https://nutritiouslife.com/recipes/jalapeno-cashew-cream/