Winter

Sweet Potato and Cilantro Quesadilla with Fried Egg and Cumin Oil

by:
March 18, 2013
3 Ratings
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
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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. (Available February 2021.)

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