Vegan and Gluten free black bean enchiladas.

New year, new recipe attempts here in my kitchen. How have I never made enchiladas before? Ummm probably because I had a fear of the unknown. But after much research over the past few days I boiled it down to this… enchiladas are very similar to Italian stuffed shells or lasagna in concept. Stuffing, layering and topping with cheese. Pretty simple.

I made two batches of enchiladas – one with flour tortillas and one with a gluten free version. I know, typically corn tortillas are used but I wanted to avoid the whole dipping the tortilla in sauce and praying that the corn didn’t crack and fall apart. I’m all about easy and functional recipes. One tray will go off to my client and we will have the df/gf version for dinner tonight. In fact, ours is in the oven baking as I’m typing this.

This recipe, as are many non-baking, savory food recipes – easily adaptable to add in or delete ingredients you have on hand/love/hate. Plus if you wish to not make your own enchilada sauce – many versions are on the market saving you a step in the process. Next time I need to add more roasted poblanos as a mental note.

An update:  I’ve now made 3 separate trays of these for my family this week per requests.  Definitely a hit! 🙂

Ingredients:

Drizzle of olive oil
2 small yellow onions, diced
5 cloves of garlic, smashed and roughly chopped
4 tablespoons of chili powder
1 tablespoon of ground cumin
2 teaspoons of chipotle pepper
1 teaspoon of smoked paprika
Salt and pepper
3 cans of black beans, drained and rinsed well
5 cups of tomato sauce
1 cup of fire roasted tomatoes (diced in a can)
1 small can of chipotles roasted in adobo (spicy use the entire 7 oz can – or use half for a mild/medium spice level)
1 poblano pepper roasted (skin and seeds removed) – optional
1 jalapeno, diced (optional)
2 small bunches of fresh cilantro
1 bag of Go Veggie Mexican cheese (vegan)
I used gluten free tortillas as pictured you can use whatever you prefer

Method:

This recipe is easy but does require many steps.

First, you want to heat some oil up in a large stock pot or Dutch oven.  Add your onions and garlic to sauté in oil.  Stir frequently for about 4-6 minutes.  Then add all of your spices to cook (chili powder through salt and pepper).  Stir to coat and cook for 2 minutes.  Then add your beans, sauce, tomatoes, chipotles and poblanos (if using).  Stir and bring that to a boil.

While that’s cooking, get your food processor set up. Then with a slotted spoon – start removing the beans from the sauce and place into your food processor bowl.  Add 1 bunch of cilantro leaves, jalapeño and half of the bag of vegan cheese.  Don’t stress if some beans remain in the sauce.

Pulse the beans several times to blend.  Your mixture should look similar.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Get a baking dish or dishes ready.  I used two 9×9 pans.  Layer some sauce on the bottom of each pan.  Then take your tortillas (if you need to warm them – do it in the microwave for 30 seconds or so).  Lay one tortilla out and spoon the filling (about 1/4 cup) closer to the end of the tortilla (see photo).  Then roll the tortilla up into a cigar shape.  Place the rolled up enchilada with the seam side down in the sauce and repeat.  Add a few spoonfuls of sauce to the top of the rolled enchiladas and top with more vegan cheese.  Bake for 25-35 minutes or until the cheese is melty and the dish is heated thoroughly.

Place the filling closer to the bottom edge so you can easily roll the tortillas up.

Place the seam side down in the dish so they don’t unravel.

Once they are all snugly placed in your baking dish top with extra enchilada sauce and cheese.

Making it rain vegan cheese 😉

All ready to bake…

I topped with extra cilantro leaves before or after baking – whichever you prefer.

Dig in & enjoy!

If freezing, you can skip the baking step and wrap with foil.  Once you’re ready to cook, preheat your oven to 350 degrees and bake covered for about 45 minutes then remove the foil and cook uncovered till the sauce is bubbling up and the cheese is melted (another 30 minutes or so).

Sunday:  4.5 mile hike with the dogs
Monday: 1h 15m weightlifting/HIIT/Core session
Tuesday: 7 mile outdoor run
Wednesday: 1h 5m weightlifting (shoulders/abs) session
Thursday: 8 outdoor miles
Friday: 5k on the treadmill testing out new sneakers/1h weightlifting.  Battling a virus this week so I took it easy on the mileage/training intensity.

— Knead to Cook