Creamy White Bean and Avocado Wraps

My friend Havilah has an elegant blog where she shares the ups and downs of life with lovely words, beautiful photos, and inspirational music. Recently she posted a recipe for wraps that caught my eye immediately due to their vibrant colors.  I'd never seen such beautiful wraps! The name sounded very promising as well; Creamy White Bean and Avocado Wraps. Mmmm....

Well, upon making this recipe I was not disappointed. They turned out beautiful and the flavor and combination of textures was perfect! The white beans blend together perfectly with avocado, a vibrant red cabbage slaw adds crunch, and a little cheddar cheese completes these delicious wraps.

Though we are not vegetarian, I have several delicious meatless recipes that are very economical and healthy even my meat-loving husband enjoys. (This is saying a lot if you know Kevin!) Meat is an important part of our diets according to Nourishing Traditions/the Weston A. Price Foundation, but it's not essential to eat it every day and eating vegetarian meals a couple nights a week or for lunches is a great way to save money. I am always on the look-out for more great meatless meals and these wraps are a tasty new addition to my vegetarian menu.

I decided to go all out with this recipe and serve it with my soaked whole wheat tortillas. I posted the recipe right before this one so if you'd like to make them just click here. These tortillas are Nourishing Traditions approved so I wanted them on my blog, but admittedly this meal is a lot easier if you use store-bought whole grain tortillas instead.

Creamy White Bean and Avocado Wraps

Red Cabbage Slaw:
2 tablespoon lime juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon chipotle chili powder *
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups shredded red cabbage
1 medium carrot or about 6 baby carrots, shredded
1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro, long stems removed

Creamy White Bean and Avocado Filling:
1 1/2 cup white beans such as great northern beans (see my bean recipe here), or one 15 oz. can, rinsed and drained
1 ripe avocado
1 tablespoon lime juice
2 tablespoons minced onion, preferably red onion

3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

8-10 Soaked Whole Wheat Tortillas or tortillas of your choice

For the red cabbage slaw:

In a medium sized serving bowl, whisk together lime juice, olive oil, chipotle pepper powder and salt. Add the shredded cabbage, carrot, and cilantro. Stir to coat.

*2 teaspoons finely chopped chipotle peppers in adobo sauce will work in place of the chipotle pepper powder. If you really don't like the flavor of chipotle you can substitute 1/4 teaspoon cumin or use 2 teaspoons salsa as Havilah did in her recipe.

For the creamy white bean and avocado filling:

In a medium sized serving bowl, combine white beans, avocado, minced onion, and lime juice. With a potato masher or fork, mash together leaving some lumps and stir to combine.

To serve:

Spoon about 3 tablespoons each of red cabbage slaw and creamy white bean and avocado filling into each tortilla along with about 2 tablespoons shredded cheddar cheese.

Eat and enjoy!

Preparation time (not including the time to prepare the soaked whole wheat tortillas): 15 minutes. Servings: 4.

Southwestern Roasted Sweet Potato Salad

Once upon a time the summer before college, I worked at a little Israeli restaurant in Minneapolis called The Little Tel-Aviv. All their food was amazing. (I am a huge Middle Eastern food fan after having been exposed to it by the many Lebanese people who lived in the Ivory Coast and Liberia to do business. I lived in these countries many years as my parents are missionaries and I have also done mission work in Africa as an adult. But I digress...)

One of the deli salads The Little Tel-Aviv served was called Rainbow Salad (if I recall correctly). It had sweet potatoes and some other vegetables that I can't quite remember (eggplant may have been one of them), and was in a tomato sauce/dressing. It was simply phenomenal. It was my favorite of all the food they served. Years passed and I (still!) have not been able to find a recipe for that amazing salad. (If you know of a recipe PLEASE leave the recipe, or a link to one, in the comments section!) But in my internet search for said amazing salad, I came across this gem; Southwestern Roasted Sweet Potato Salad. I saved this recipe in my ever-growing recipe collection on my computer, then one day recently, I pulled it out and made it.

It was everything I dreamed it would be.

It is hands down my favorite non-lettuce salad recipe. The tastes and textures blend together perfectly and the slow roasted sweet potatoes give an unexpected sweet flavor. It makes a great side dish, but can also be a vegetarian main course. And as if all these things were not amazing enough, the recipe is high protein/low carb AND Nourishing Traditions approved! It's not Israeli, but it turned out to be a wonderful sister recipe to the one I was searching for. (This recipe is adapted from one I found at Taste of the South Magazine online).

Southwestern Roasted Sweet Potato Salad

5-6 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes, to make 8 cups

3 Tablespoons melted coconut oil or olive oil

1 1/4 teaspoon salt (Kosher salt or flakey sea salt works best)

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons dried oregano

1 1/2 cups black beans (see my recipe here), or one 15.5 oz can, rinsed and drained

1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion (about half a medium onion), or one large Carolina sweet onion (about 2/3 cup)

1 1/2 to 2 cups grape tomatoes

1 cup feta cheese (can be omitted if you can't have dairy or don't like feta)

1/2 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/2 - 1 teaspoon ground chipotle chili powder*

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large bowl, toss the sweet potatoes with the coconut oil. Sprinkle on the salt, pepper, cumin and oregano. Stir to coat. Spread the potatoes in a single layer on a baking sheet with an edge. Bake for 45-60 minutes, checking after 30 minutes as some ovens heat differently (no need to stir). Bake until the edges start to brown. (The goal is to slow roast them to caramelized perfection.) Cool.

Now this is where it gets tough. You'll want to taste one of these suckers and when you do you'll find you can't stop snitching them. I literally make extra potatoes since I know that I'll eat too many before they make it into the salad!

These suckers have perfectly caramelized flavor.

Transfer the potatoes to a large serving bowl. Add the black beans, red onion, tomatoes, feta and cilantro.

In a small bowl combine the olive oil, lemon juice and chipotle pepper powder.  Poor over the salad. Stir gently to combine all the ingredients. 

Can be eaten right away, but it tastes best if it's had at least one hour to chill.

*Chipotle pepper powder is very important to this recipe. I found mine from McCormick in the spice isle at Wal-Mart. You can also order it online.

Preparation time: 30 minutes. Cook time: 45-60 minutes: Servings: 4-5

This salad goes well with grilled meat and a green salad. It also is a great vegetarian meal. I serve it for dinner as a side one night, then eat the leftovers for lunch the next day. As a side dish it serves 4-5, but for a main dish it is about 2-3 servings.