Winter

Sweet Potato and Cilantro Quesadilla with Fried Egg and Cumin Oil

by:
March 18, 2013
4 Stars
Sweet Potato and Cilantro Quesadilla with Fried Egg and Cumin Oil
Author Notes

These quesadillas are only so named out of habit, as they are cheese-free (gluten- free, as it happens, as well); though with the warm potato filling and a sopping of runny egg yolk, I hardly noticed. The quesadillas are cooked in a dry, heavy skillet, which toasts and chars the corn tortillas rather than frying them. My husband, a tall man with an even taller appetite, admitted he liked this quesadilla as well as the kind he orders at our corner restaurant. —Caroline Wright

  • Serves 4
Ingredients
  • 2 small sweet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1 tablespoon lime juice
  • 1/2 cup cilantro leaves
  • 4 large eggs
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 8 small (about 6-inch) corn tortillas
  • Lime wedges, for serving
In This Recipe
Directions
  1. In a medium saucepan fitted with a steamer basket, place sweet potatoes. Cover and steam sweet potatoes until tender, 6 minutes. While potatoes cook, heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium. Add cumin seeds and cook until toasted, 1 minute. Pour off cumin oil into a small bowl and reserve. (Do not wipe out skillet.) Crack eggs into skillet and cook, without turning, until whites are set and yolks are still runny, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer eggs to a plate and cover with foil to keep warm. (Reserve skillet.)
  2. When potatoes are tender, transfer to a bowl with paprika and lime juice; season with salt and pepper and gently toss to coat. Divide sweet potatoes among 4 tortillas; top with cilantro and remaining tortillas. Return reserved skillet to medium-high heat. Cook quesadillas until charred in spots on both sides, about 2 minutes per side, in two batches. Serve each quesadilla topped with a fried egg, drizzled with reserved cumin oil.
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Caroline Wright
Before her diagnosis, Caroline wrote a book on cakes called Cake Magic!. She started developing a birthday cake using her gluten-free mix found in that book. Check out other recipes she’s developing for her new life—and the stories behind them—on her blog, The Wright Recipes. Her next book, Soup Club, is a collection of recipes she made for her underground soup club of vegan and grain-free soups she delivers every week to friends throughout Seattle's rainy winter.

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13 Reviews

Cheryl
Cheryl February 12, 2018
Thoroughly enjoyed. I used a little vegan jalapeno jack cheese on each internal side and put avocado on top. Adding lime to the sweet potatoes was good--I don't like the sweetness so much, so that cut it. Thank you!
 
Sharon R.
Sharon R. May 14, 2015
A "quesadilla" without cheese? A semantic impossibility! Whoever wrote this recipe must be from the East Coast. Nobody living within a thousand miles of Mexico would make this goof.
 
Cassie S.
Cassie S. October 12, 2014
This turned out really well! I added some Queso Chihuahua and Avocado and it was a total hit. The only modification I might make next time is to tone down (maybe even to 1/4 t) the paprika on the sweet potatoes and add some ground cumin.
 
Jess G.
Jess G. March 9, 2014
We really enjoyed this! We added a little Daiya fake cheese and that held them together nicely. Super tasty!
 
KittyKate
KittyKate March 1, 2014
these look wonderful! just wondering, though, about how much those sweet potatoes weigh? a ballpark idea would be helpful!
 
tenpenny
tenpenny April 13, 2013
Hmm. These taste great, but I had a lot of problems. There's no binding agent in the mixture, so when heating the tortillas and flipping them over, stuff falls out. Same with actually eating them. Nothing stays within the tortillas. Is this happening to others?
 
Danny R.
Danny R. May 7, 2013
maybe a little shredded cheese?
 
Cassie S.
Cassie S. October 12, 2014
Unless you're vegan, I used a little Queso Chihuahua and did not have any issue.
 
Margaret B.
Margaret B. March 22, 2013
Took more than 6 minutes to steam those potatoes! Otherwise spot on. I would never have thought to combine to make this on my own, but the recipe sounded good and was.
 
DeGustibuzz
DeGustibuzz March 20, 2013
What do you do with the reserved cumin oil? The photo suggests that it is drizzled over the eggs, yet the recipe doesn't include that as a final step before serving.
 
Author Comment
Caroline W.
Caroline W. March 20, 2013
You're right! Thanks for catching that. Fixed it!
 
Vstarr71
Vstarr71 March 20, 2013
Yum! Looking forward to making this fr lunch!
 
food-alovestory.com
food-alovestory.com March 20, 2013
What an original recipe! With lime, cumin, sweet potatoes - it almost sounds south Indian. GF and Dairy free, too! What's not to love ? Thank you.