For the November Secret Recipe Club posting I was paired with Paula of Dishing the Divine. She has beautiful photos of everything she makes. Absolutely so jealous of her Food Gawker Gallery. It was tough to decide what to make but the thing that jumped out at me was her post for Vegetable Enchiladas.

Being that I am perpetually running late with things, I made these the night before posting. But that actually worked out perfectly since it was a great light meal after Thanksgiving eating. I had decided that I would make the Vegetable Enchiladas the moment I saw the post and I stuck with it weeks later. I’m so glad that I stuck with my gut decision because I loved these enchiladas.

I made just a few changes to the recipe. The biggest change was that I added 1cup of frozen corn to the filling mixture. This increased the amount of filling that was made so this yielded more enchiladas. I ended up with 22 enchiladas (almost doubling the recipe) so I ended up using up all the sauce. As with all Mexican dishes I served it this pieces of avocado. Yum!

Price was whining as his enchiladas were disappearing off his plate so quickly. I really love successful dishes since I love finding something that we both love. We eat plenty of vegetarian dishes but Pricer seemed skeptical of this actually being filling (we only has brunch yesterday at 10am so he was really hungry by 6pm). So while I doing this mentioned that he can pick the next SRC recipe for me to make. Should be interesting…

The recipe calls for the corn tortillas to be warmed so that they are more playable to be rolled up. Since moving, we don’t have a microwave so I warmed them up over our gas burner. I learned this during the cooking class I took this spring. It’s super easy to do it this way and I love that they get a little bit of char (flavor!) on them.

I think this recipe can be broken up and used in different ways easily. Obviously the enchilada sauce can be used on different enchiladas, but the filling is really tasty on its own so I could see myself making that and putting it in burritos, topping burgers, stuffing in chicken, use as a filling in stuffed peppers, and topping on baked potatoes. Give this a try, it won’t let you down! Thanks Paula!

Vegetable Enchiladas

-makes 24 enchiladas-

Ingredients

for the sauce:

• 1 tsp. canola oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tbsp. chili powder
• 1 tbsp. ground cumin
• 2 tsp. sugar
• 2 (8 oz.) cans tomato sauce
• ½-¾ cup water
• Salt and pepper

for the filling:

• 1 (15 oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 tbsp. canola oil
• 1 medium red onion, chopped
• 1 cup corn, fresh or frozen
• 1 red or yellow bell pepper, seeded and chopped fine
• 1 (8 oz.) zucchini, halved lengthwise, seeded and chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ cups enchilada sauce (above), divided
• ½ cup minced fresh cilantro
• ¼ cup diced canned green chilies
• 4 oz crumbled queso fresco or feta cheese
• Salt and pepper

for assembly:

• 12 (6-inch) corn tortillas
• enchilada sauce
• 1 cup shredded pepper jack or cheddar cheese
• Lime wedges, for serving
• 1 avocado, for serving

Process

to make the enchilada sauce:

1.  Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat.  Add the onion and cook until softened and lightly browned, approximately 5 minutes.
2. Add the garlic, chili powder, cumin, and sugar; cook just until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
3. Wisk in the tomato sauce and water, bring to a simmer and cook until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.
4. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

To make the filling

1. Add oil to a large skillet and heat over medium-high heat until shimmering.
2. Add the onion and corn, and cook until slightly softened, 3-5 minutes.
3. Add the bell pepper, cook until softened, approximately for 2-3 minutes.
4. Add the zucchini and cook just until tender, 3-5 minutes more.
5. Add in the garlic and black beans and cook until warmed through, about 2 minutes.
6. Transfer the veggie mixture to a large bowl and stir in ½ cup of the enchilada sauce, cilantro, and green chilies.
7. Right before rolling the enchiladas, add in the queso fresco to the filling.
8. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

To assemble:

1. Preheat the oven to 450˚ F.
2. Warm the tortillas until pliable, warm over a gar burner or briefly microwave for about 30 seconds.
3. Place 1/3 cup of the filling mixture down the center of a tortilla.  Tightly roll up the tortilla and place in 2 9 x 13-inch baking dishes, seam side down.
4. Repeat with the remaining filling and tortillas.
5. Evenly pour the sauce over the enchiladas.  Sprinkle the shredded cheddar over the top of the sauce.
6. Cover with foil and bake until the enchiladas are heated through, about 10 minutes.  Remove the foil and continue to bake until the cheese is melted, 3-5 minutes more.
7. Prior to serving, sprinkle with avocado pieces and pieces of cilantro and serve warm with lime wedges.