Who doesn’t love enchiladas? We serve them with tamales for our Christmas dinner. There are so many different variations to the fillings and the sauces. To save time, make your filling and sauce before you begin assembling the tortillas. The process of making enchiladas gets easier with each try.  

• 1 tablespoon oil or ¼ cup vegetable broth, for sautéing
• 1 small onion, finely diced
• ½ a red bell pepper, finely diced
• 1 Poblano pepper, finely diced
• 1-2 jalapeño peppers, finely diced
• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups mushrooms, sliced or chopped
• 6 cups fresh spinach
• 1 tomato, finely diced
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper 
• 2 dozen corn tortillas
• Enchilada Filling  

    Suggested sides:

• Guacamole 
• Black Bean Salsa 
• Corn Salsa 
• Pico de Gallo
• Tortilla Strips

Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Spray casserole dish with canola cooking spray.  To prepare enchilada filling, heat a large skillet to medium-high heat. Add oil or vegetable broth and cook onions, bell pepper, Poblano pepper and jalapeño pepper until tender or lightly brown.

Add garlic and cook one minute more. Add mushrooms and salt, tossing in skillet until juices begin to flow. Add spinach and tomato, mix with other vegetables. Remove from heat. Add salt as desired and black pepper then set aside.  0To prepare tortillas for enchiladas, heat a griddle to medium-high heat. Place verde sauce in a pie plate. Using tongs, place one tortilla at a time on heated griddle for about 20 seconds. Then flip to the other side until the tortilla is soft. Leave on the griddle only long enough to soften the tortillas making them easy to roll.  Lightly dip one side of the tortilla in verde sauce and place in a casserole baking dish with coated side down. Add vegetable filling down the center and roll so that seam faces bottom of casserole dish. Continue assembling enchiladas in this manner until dish is full. When ready to bake, cover casserole dish with foil and bake in oven for 15 minutes. Remove cover and after 15 minutes add ½ cup of the verde sauce to top and continue cooking another 15 minutes or until bubbly and beginning to brown. Remove from heat and serve.  

Enchilada Fillings:

• Mashed pinto or black beans mixed with finely diced jalapeños and onions.   
• Corn and leftover potatoes with sautéed garlic, jalapeños, diced onion, diced red bell pepper, a touch of cumin and salt and freshly ground pepper.   
• Leftover vegetables (carrots, corn, greens, hominy, green beans or any combination you like) mixed with sautéed diced onions, diced peppers of any kind and salt.   
• Roasted asparagus with corn and black beans mixed with sautéed diced onions, minced garlic, mushrooms and salt.   
• Zucchini sautéed with diced red bell peppers, diced onions, diced jalapeño and corn.   
• Country style hash brown potatoes with peppers and onions, with added hot peppers.   
• Two bunches of chard, garlic, onions, jalapeño, Mexican oregano, and parsley.  
•  Cabbage, zucchini, carrots, mushrooms, bell peppers, hot peppers, thinly sliced and sautéed.

Hints:

For the best results, make fillings and sauces well ahead of time and assemble enchiladas right before serving.

Poblano chiles are usually not very hot and very tasty. Their flavor improves with roasting.