Veggie Enchiladas

I feel like I've been getting away from blogging these last few weeks. I've been kinda busy/distracted (as you'll see once I finally catch up on my roses n' thorns). I've also been procrastinating writing a post until I can sit down and write something interesting with/about Jim. He has about a week of long days left, but then he should be free. (I feel like I've said that a million times before... but it's true this time. They're working on the final mix as I type this.)

Anyway, better late than never....

This recipe is from my Skinny Bitch In The Kitch cookbook. I made this dish for the first time a few weeks ago, but it was so good that I know I'm definitely gonna be making it again and again.

Last time, I made it with the homemade enchilada sauce, but I think next time I will just buy the canned sauce to speed things up. Also, since the sauce only requires 1 tbsp tomato paste, the rest of the can ended up sitting in my fridge until I tossed it out. (I don't use tom paste too often.) In the future if I want to make the sauce from scratch again, I may have to plan ahead n' make something tomatoey in the days to follow. I hate wasting food, and yet I do it more often than I'd like to admit.

Veggie Enchiladas

Serves 6


Ingredients:
2 tbsp refined coconut oil (or whatever other type of oil you have on hand), plus more for frying
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1/2 inch dice
1 yellow bell pepper, cut into 1/2 inch dice
1 red onion, cut into 1/2 inch dice
2 garlic cloves
3 cups enchilada sauce, homemade (recipe follows) or canned
1 cup fresh corn, cooked, or frozen corn, thawed (I used canned corn...)
1 (2-1/4 ounce) can sliced Mission olives, drained (I chopped up a bunch of green olives instead)
1 tsp fine sea salt
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
12 (7-inch) corn tortillas
4 ounces vegan cheese, shredded (or use regular cheese - this is just a vegan cookbook. I'm definitely not vegan as I luuuuurve me some cheese! - but I do like to mix up my ingredients from time to time with more animal/earth friendly options.)
2 scallions thinly sliced

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350'F

Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a 10 - 12 inch skillet over medium heat. Add the bell peppers and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Add the garlic, reduce the heat to low, and cook, stirring occasionally, until all the vegetables are very tender, about 10 minutes.

Transfer the vegetables to a large bowl and stir in 1/2 cup of the enchilada sauce, the corn, olives, salt, cumin, and coriander.

Warm the remaining enchilada sauce in a small saucepan. Then transfer the sauce to a round 8 or 9 inch cake pan. Working one tortilla at a time, use tongs to dip the tortilla into the warm enchilada sauce, dipping to soften the tortilla and coat both sides. Transfer the tortilla to a plate and spoon about 1/4 cup of the vegetable mixture down the center of the tortilla. Roll the tortilla into a tight cylinder, enclosing the filling. Transfer the filled tortilla to a 13 X 9 inch baking pan, seam side down. Repeat with remaining tortillas, making 2 rows of 6 enchiladas each in the baking pan.

Pour the leftover dipping sauce over the enchiladas, covering them evenly. Sprinkle the cheese over the sauce. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the tip of a knife inserted into the center of an enchilada comes out piping hot. Sprinkle with scallions and serve.

Enchilada Sauce
Makes about 3 cups


Ingredients:
10 dried California or other mild chiles, stemmed, split and seeds removed (I used 5 extra hot chilis...)
5 cups water
1 garlic clove
1/4 refined coconut oil, melted (or whatever oil you prefer to use)
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp fine sea salt

Directions:
In a 10 or 12 inch skillet over medium high heat, toast the chiles a few at a time until they're blistered and a few shades darker, 1 to 1-1/2 minutes, turning occasionally. Transfer to a bowl and cover with water. Place a plate on top of the chiles to keep them submerged in the water (if necessary, place something heavy, like a can or two, on top of the plate). Set aside for 30 minutes.

Drain off 2 cups of the water. Place the chiles and remaining water in a blender, along with the garlic, oil, tomato paste, cumin, oregano, and salt. Puree until smooth. Transfer the mixture to a 2 or 3 quart saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook 10 minutes.