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9.01.2010

Veggie enchiladas

My friend Linda made these enchiladas for a dinner party a few weeks ago, and I haven't been able to stop thinking about them! Based on a Moosewood recipe, the enchiladas are filled with eggplant, cheese, peppers...and almonds, which make for a delicious crunch. Linda is a really good cook, and I worried that these might be hard to replicate, but hip hip, they turned out well. Alas, I forgot to take a photo.

Anyway, here's Linda's version:

"1 eggplant (I used more because I LOVE eggplant)
Onion- as much as you like
Green pepper- or red pepper. Or none at all if people don’t like them
Saute these 3 veggies in oil until cooked. If you want the green peppers to stay a little crunchy put them in later. (I did this 'cause I like crunchier peppers.)

Add to the veggies:
Small can of diced green chilies – mild or hot depending on your taste buds or perhaps one can of each. (Linda's preference.)
Chopped almonds or some nut to add a nice crunch.
Canned beans – I prefer black beans and sometimes I use the cans with spices and sometimes without. If they don’t have spices I usually rinse the beans.
Once the veggie mixture is cooked, I portion them out on a cookie sheet so I know how many enchiladas I’ll have. Otherwise I end up without enough tortillas or not enough veggies, etc. for small tortillas an ice cream scoop is about the right size. You’ll have to experiment. You need to add cheese and roll up the tortilla.

Monterey Jack cheese - grated
Fresh cilantro
Corn tortillas
Canned enchilada sauce. I use two cans of enchilada sauce, one hot and one mild. For a large batch you may need 3 cans. If you only use mild you should be sure to spice the veggie mixture or the sauce.

Heat the enchilada sauce in a frying pan large enough to dunk the tortillas in. (if you think you will be short enough sauce add small amounts of water.)
Dip the tortilla in the enchilada sauce, in order to cover them in sauce and to make rolling
them easier. Be careful not to leave the tortillas in the warm sauce to long or they break apart.
Remove the tortilla from the frying pan, place in your baking pan, sprinkle grated cheese onto the tortilla, then add fresh cilantro, then a spoonful of the veggies and roll up the tortilla. Place the seam of the enchilada on the bottom of the pan. If the seam is at the top they will break open during their final baking.

When the pan is full sprinkle remaining cheese on top of the pan and dribble any remaining sauce. You want to try and have some sauce left for this step. Bake covered with tin foil until thoroughly heated through. Take the tinfoil off the pan for the last 5 -10 minutes to crisp them up a little. They will dry out terribly if you don’t first leave the tin foil on the pan.

Before baking everything is basically cooked so they can be stored or frozen at this time. If you have more veggie mix than tortillas you can also freeze just the veggie mix.
Have fun making your own additions."

Thank you, Linda!

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