Inspired by Anne at fANNEtastic food, I decided to surprise my roommates with enchiladas tonight.
Okay, by surprise I mean I texted them a day ahead of time while in the supermarket aisle, smelling my way through the bins of jalapenos and poblano peppers. And reminded them again this morning. Apparently, I had very high hopes for this meal!
My refrigerator was seriously lacking in anything resembling meat or beans, so veggie delight was exactly what made its way into my tortillas. Anne’s enchilada sauce has a great kick and the yogurt sauce inside each cheese-covered little wrap was creamy and cooling. I’ll be honest…I don’t think I’ll put kale inside of my tortillas again. It didn’t wilt quite the way spinach might (which I would have used if I didn’t need to use up that kale). HOWEVER, my roommates scarfed down their portions and said they wouldn’t change a thing.
What’ve I know? This may just be a raging case of the self-critical cook. I did finish my plate, after all =)
Enchiladas make for very difficult subjects; shiny and slightly greasy from the cheese, oozing out of the sides due to my inability to properly wrap up a tortilla. I did my best to take pretty pictures but sometimes I just want to dig in, you know? I cleaned my plate and really did enjoy every bite, despite the slightly yicky photos.
Kale and Mushroom Enchiladas
Adapted from fANNEtastic Food’s Healthy Chicken Enchiladas
serves 3-4
Enchilada Sauce Ingredients:
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 1.5 tsp chili powder
- 1.5 teaspoons cumin
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed
- ~ 20 oz. diced tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, chopped (or more if you totally dig it!)
Enchilada Ingredients:
- 8 oz. kale, chopped
- 10 oz. mushrooms, washed
- 5 whole wheat flour tortillas or 10 small corn tortillas
- 1/2 poblano pepper, seeded and minced
- 1 cup low fat plain yogurt (lactose free for me!)
- juice of 1 lime
- generous amount of black pepper and sprinkle of kosher salt
- 1 cup shard cheddar cheese, shredded
- fresh cilantro, chopped (amount based on taste, I used about 3 tablespoons)
Method:
- Preheat oven to 350*.
- Prepare sauce. Preheat a large skillet with 1 teaspoon olive oil over a medium-high flame. Add chopped onion, garlic, and spices and cook until onions begin to soften. Add tomatoes, vinegar, sugar, and cilantro. Simmer for about 20 minutes. Once the flavors have had time to develop, ladle the sauce into the blender and puree until smooth (immersion blender is fine, too, if you’d prefer).
- Meanwhile, add a teaspoon of olive oil to a large pan and heat over a medium flame. Add kale and mushrooms, along with a few tablespoons of water, and steam until kale softens and darkens in color.
- Remove the kale and mushrooms from the pan and place in a large bowl. Stir in the yogurt, poblano pepper, lime juice, cumin, and salt and pepper.
- Lightly oil or spray a 9×13″ baking dish and spread a bit of sauce on the bottom. Prepare one tortilla at a time by adding about a fifth of the mixture (or tenth of using smaller, corn tortillas) to the center, folding up, and placing fold-side down in the dish.
- Once all of the tortillas are in the dish, pour the rest of the sauce over top. Sprinkle the shredded cheese on top. Bake for 20 minutes or until the cheese is fully melted and beginning to bubble.
Anything is good with melted cheese on top, right? I could not stop licking the sauce off my plate…er, licking my fork =) And I love when tortillas are slightly toasted but then get ushy, gushy underneath all of the sauce and cheese.
See that generous dollop of green delight to the right?
You’ll just have to wait until tomorrow for that recipe.
happyaspie 