Tortilla Tray Bake with Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Avocado, Corn, and Mild Salsa Rojo

The layers of creamy avocado in between sweet and spicy tomato salsa, corn, and roasted sweet potato in this tray bake (aka meal-in-one-baking sheet) will keep you coming back for just one more spoonful. A lot of the nutrients in sweet potatoes are in the skins and roasting them skin-on makes the insides extra sweet and caramelized without added oil or water. So theoretically you’d want to leave the skins on, but that would make this meal harder to serve and tougher to eat when large pieces of tough skins came off the sweet potatoes and you couldn’t cut through the pieces. BUT! By removing the skins after roasting and slicing them along with the tortillas, you end up with a crispy, nutrient-dense topping, with a touch of sweetness and less waste.

Tortilla Tray Bake with Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Avocado, Corn, and Mild Salsa Rojo

4 to 6 small sweet potatoes, or enough to almost cover the bottom of your baking sheet when sliced in half, ends trimmed but unpeeled
1/2 tsp (2 mL) extra-virgin olive oil
Pinch of salt
2 cups (500 mL) frozen corn kernels or canned corn niblets along with their juices
Six 6-in (15 cm) corn tortillas, plus 8 to 12 more for serving

Salsa roja
6 medium tomatoes, diced, juices reserved, or one 796 mL (28 fl oz) can no-salt-added diced tomatoes
Pinch organic cane or demerara sugar, optional
1/2 tsp (2 mL) ground chipotle chili powder, or other chili powder or minced chili pepper, optional
3/4 tsp (4 mL) salt
2 Tbsp (30 mL) lime juice

Guacamole
2 avocados
1/4 cup (60 mL) lime juice
1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt
1/2 tsp (2 mL) minced fresh red chili pepper, optional
4 green onions, white and green parts, thinly sliced
1 cup (250 mL) finely chopped cilantro (leaves and stems)

1/4 cup (60 mL) grated Monterey Jack or vegan cheese, optional

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375 F (190 C).

For sweet potatoes, slice lengthwise, coat with oil and salt, place cut-side-down on rimmed baking sheet, and bake 20 minutes. Flip sweet potatoes. Cook 10 minutes more, or until soft.

Cool slightly, then peel sweet potato skins, reserving for later. Place roasted orange flesh flat-side-down in baking sheet. Press down gently on sweet potato flesh with bottom of spatula to spread along bottom of pan. Scatter corn kernels overtop.

For Salsa roja, in large saucepan, combine tomatoes, sugar, chili powder, and salt and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring frequently, until reduced to about 2 1/2 cups (625 mL), about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in lime juice. With a blender or immersion blender, blend until smooth.

For Guacamole, in medium bowl, mash avocados. Add lime juice, salt, chili pepper (if using), green onions, and cilantro. Taste and adjust seasonings. Set aside.

Stack reserved sweet potato peels on top of six tortillas and slice into 1 1/2 x 1/2 in (4 x 1 cm) strips.

Spread 2 cups (500 mL) salsa over roasted flesh of sweet potatoes in tray followed by guacamole. Top with remaining salsa, then sliced tortillas and sweet potato peels. Bake 20 minutes on a rack in bottom third of preheated oven, then broil 5 minutes on high, or until tortillas are crisp. Add grated cheese in last 3 minutes, if desired.

Scoop onto plates and serve with extra tortillas on side.

Serves 8. 

Each serving contains: 312 calories; 7 g protein; 9 g total fat (1 g sat. fat, 0 g trans fat); 55 g total carbohydrates (7 g sugars, 11 g fibre); 425 mg sodium[2]

TIPS

No GMOs

Corn is one of only four GMO crops permitted in Canada, along with soy, canola, and sugarbeets. Certified organic produce, however, is always GMO free, so buying organic corn is a surefire way of avoiding GMOs. Make sure you buy niblets instead of creamed corn, though, or your dinner could contain a lot more sugar than you’d like!

Time-saving and big-batch baking

Freeze any leftovers, or double the recipe and freeze a second tray in a freezer-safe, oven-safe casserole dish before baking (roast the sweet potatoes but don’t bake the entire casserole). Reheat from frozen in a preheated 375 F (190 C) oven for about 40 minutes, until hot and bubbly. It might seem strange to bake avocado, but try it once before judging me too harshly. I think it’s delicious.