The Best Ever Vegetarian Enchiladas - Recipe

Enchiladas are one of the mainstays in my cooking repertoire. I don’t remember where I learned to make them, my guess is sometime during the fall of 2003 when Jeff and I first lived together. Back then I made them with ground turkey.

These days I make them vegetarian style. They are so good and filling. And with a side salad of lettuce, avocado and cilantro to balance out the heaviness of the beans, well, I could eat these every day.

They are a little bit of work to prepare, but I get two meals and a couple lunches out of a 9x13 pan, so I figure it is time well spent.

I make everything but the tortillas from scratch. I know how to make tortillas, but there was a package of tortillas in the freezer that I wanted to use up. They are very convenient. 

The Mexican Red Sauce is adapted from The Moosewood Cookbook by Molly Katzen. The filling I usually just make up as I go along. This time ‘round it came out particularly delicious, so I thought it was blog worthy. I used yellow summer squash, mushrooms, black beans, carrots and some onion.

The Best Ever Vegetarian Enchiladas

Bold Bean Filling:

4 yellow summer squash, diced
2 carrots, grated
1 onion, diced
1 basket of baby bella mushrooms, sliced
2 tablespoons garlic, minced
3 cups of black beans, cooked and rinsed (from about 1 cup dry beans)
2 cups stock

Mexican Red Sauce:

2 cans of diced tomatoes (15 oz each)
1 can of tomato paste (6 oz)
1 medium onion, diced
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 cup water
2 tablespoons garlic, minced

10 borrito sized tortillas
1 cup of Mexican (or Jack or Cheddar) shredded cheese

Step 1: Start by roasting the veggies for the filling. In a 9x13 pan place the diced summer squash, sliced baby bella mushroom and diced onion. Pop them in the top shelf of the oven with the broiler on. Leave the door slightly ajar so the steam can get out. This will brown the veggies and add a roasted flavor while reducing the water content so the enchiladas aren't soggy. Becareful not to let anything burn. It should take 10-15 minutes and you will need to stir the pan about every 5 minutes.

Step 3: In a large pot over medium-low heat on the stove add the stock, black beans, garlic, grated carrots and roasted vegetables. Allow the pot to come to a simmer and keep stirring things together. It will take up to a half hour to reduce down to a clumpy mixture. Season with cumin, salt and pepper then set aside. The filling is ready to go.

Step 4: While the filling is simmering you can work on putting together the Mexican Red Sauce. In a medium sized sauce pan over medium heat sauté the onion in a little drizzle of oil. When the onion is transparent add the tomatoes, tomato paste, cumin, chili powder, and salt. Cover and bring to a simmer. Allow this mixture to cook for at least 30 minutes so the flavors meld.

Step 5: Assemble the enchiladas in a 9x13 pan. First pour half of the Mexican red Sauce into the pan and spread it around until it is evenly coating the bottom. Then take a tortilla and fill it with ¾ cup of filling, roll it into a burrito shape and place it in the pan with the seam side down. Fill all 10 of the tortillas and line the up in the pan so they all fit in one level. This may require some scrunching to get them all to fit. Then pour the remaining Mexican red sauce on top and use a spoon to smear it around. Take special care to make sure every part of the tortilla is covered in sauce. Exposed parts will dry out when baked. Sprinkle the cheese on top and cover the pan with aluminum foil.

Step 6: Bake the enchiladas at 325 degrees for 45 minutes. Remove them from the oven, uncover and let cool for five minutes before serving.

Step 7: Serve the enchiladas with a large salad, some fresh cilantro and a dollop of sour cream.

As the Pioneer Woman would say, “This recipe will make your skirt fly up!” Enjoy!