Maggie's Enchiladas

Even though in my introduction I told you most of the recipes I'll post aren't mine, I'm starting off with one that is actually a recipe I created. Tonight, Shana and I are having two friends over for dinner and games since one of the friends took a tenure-track job at a school in Florida and moves in just a few short days. In planning for tonight's dinner, we wanted to do something easy (and delicious, of course!) and something that would go with a salad one of our guests is bringing. Thus, we decided to have enchiladas. 

This recipe has some pros and cons. First, the pros. 

1. Enchiladas are a great food to introduce you to veg*n cooking. You can change up the ingredients to anything you like and you won't miss the meat - I promise. 
2. This recipe only uses common grocery store "convenience" ingredients (but see Helpful Hints below).
3. Leftover enchiladas can be frozen and re-heated, but they won't be for everyone. Shana likes these frozen and re-heated, but I do not.

Now the cons.

1. You are going to use a lot of pots and pans and bowls. I use one skillet, one large bowl, one medium bowl, one pie plate, one 9x13 baking dish, one 5x8 baking dish, and one small-ish pot, plus a cutting board, a knife, and a big spoon.
2. You have to fill and roll the enchiladas, which is best done as a two-person activity. You can do it alone, it's just easier with a kitchen helper (this would be great for small hands!). 

Maggie's Enchiladas
Ingredients
8 whole-wheat tortillas (fajita size)
2, 15 oz. cans of black beans
1, 8 oz. can of corn 
1 green pepper, cut into 1/2 inch chunks
1 small onion, chopped
4, 10 oz. cans of enchilada sauce (we do 3 mild and 1 medium, but use whatever heat level you like)
1 c. "Mexican" rice (includes 1 c. brown Minute Rice, 2 T. tomato paste, 1 tsp. basil, 2 tsp. oregano, 1/2 tsp. paprika, 1/4 tsp. chili powder)

Directions
1. Heat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Saute onion and pepper in a skillet over medium heat until onions are soft.
3. Make "Mexican" rice. Follow the instructions on the box of Minute rice, but add the other ingredients listed above to the water at the beginning. 
4. Open and drain cans of beans and corn. Pour these into a large bowl. 
5. Add the sauteed veggies and the cooked "Mexican" rice to the bowl of beans/corn, then stir to combine. 
6. Pour a little bit of enchilada sauce into a pie plate. Dip one tortilla in the sauce, then place in a baking dish. Spoon some of the filling mixture onto the tortilla, then roll it into a log shape. Rotate it to put the seam down.  Repeat until all tortillas are filled. 

Here you can see  my prep station

7. Pour rest of sauce over tortillas, then bake for about 35 minutes. 

Helpful Hints

• Invest in some non-stick foil to have on hand, in addition to regular foil. I line my glass baking dishes (for this recipe) with non-stick foil because the enchiladas will stick to the pans otherwise and are awful to remove. 
• If you think you'll need it, you can sprinkle some cheese on toward the end of the cooking time. I encourage you to try this without cheese, but if you add it, sprinkle on some shredded cheese when there are 5-10 minutes of cooking time remaining. You really just want it to melt. 
• You can always opt to use non-convenience ingredients in something a recipe like this. For example, in this recipe, you can easily make your own black beans in a crock pot and they will be even cheaper than buying cans of beans, which are pretty cheap anyway. 
• If you can find a soy-free enchilada sauce (or make your own), this are soy-free.

Serves 4-6 adults

The post "Maggie's Enchiladas" originally appeared at Maggie's LesVegan Kitchen.