Friday 22 August 2014

Enchiladas with guacamole and "refried" beans


This dinner came about last week partly through a desire to please the kids and partly because supplies were running low and I only had certain ingredients left in the fridge and cupboards. I found cheese, tinned tomatoes, vegetables and a packet of flour tortillas...
Some years ago, I used to work in the kitchen of a very busy and popular vegetarian restaurant in Glastonbury. On our evening menu were several Mexican dishes, enchiladas being one if them. Pancakes were used instead of flour tortillas, and the filling was spinach and cream cheese., but here, I am using flour tortillas and a mixed vegetable filling. As I did not have pinto beans to hand, I used a combination of red kidney beans and kala channa (dark brown chickpeas) for the "refried" beans, and limited the amount of oil I "refried" them in quite drastically. I also did not make pico-de-gallo (a relish of finely-chopped fresh chillis, coriander/ cilantro and de-seeded tomatoes) this time because I had no fresh tomatoes that day; otherwise I would have, as I had kept the rest of the preparations quite mild and not really hot. I provided some salted corn tortilla chips as well as a green salad for extra-hungry people, and there was additional chilli powder as a seasoning for those who like it spicy.
My efforts were nonetheless greeted enthusiastically by my family, with requests to make it again, and it is for this reason I am sharing it here with you: I would normally regard this kind of dinner as way too rich for everyday eating; (In fact, I made 2 enchiladas without cheese for myself and my husband).
The following is less a recipe, more a cooking memo; you will have to work out exact quantities for yourself, according to how many people you want to feed and how spicy you like it.

Filling:
I used whatever veg I had to hand, chopped quite finely and steamed lightly: that day it was green beans, bell peppers, broccoli and sweetcorn. I then stirred in a good amount of grated vegetarian medium Cheddar cheese.
Tomato sauce:
Not having fresh tomatoes, I used 2 or 3 cans of chopped tomatoes. In the pan, I added salt, hing, a little brown sugar, paprika and some chilli powder (not much) and simmered it until reduced to a sauce-like consistency; not too thick, though, as it will dry out in the oven.
"Refried" beans;
I mashed the cooked beans coarsely, and added salt,  hing, coriander powder, a little chilli and some olive oil. Instead of frying them, I heated them gently in a saucepan, stirring in a little water now and then if they dried out. (Thinking about it, smoked paprika and liquid aminos/ soy sauce would be a great addition too.)
Guacamole:
To mashed avocado I added lemon juice and salt, and left it at that since the tomato sauce and beans were spiced. You could always add chilli and/ or fresh coriander leaves.
Assembling and cooking the enchiladas:
I placed a generous dollop of filling in the centre of each tortilla and folded it in half. I lay them in a roasting tin and poured the tomato sauce over the top, ensuring the tortillas were completely covered. Next I grated more of the Cheddar cheese over the top of that and baked in a medium oven until heated through and browned/ bubbling on top.
I served them with a green salad of shredded iceberg lettuce and cucumber with black olives, with the beans and guacamole on the side. I decorated each enchilada with a blob of natural low-fat yoghurt (instead of sour cream) and an olive.

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