Amy and I often kick around whole-week menu ideas. Things from roasting a chicken or other large peice of meat on Saturday and eating the leftovers all week to "let's cook all week with only things we can buy at 'The Asian Foodmart'."
One of our long running to-dos was to have a totally meatless week. We don't eat meat terribly often as it is; perhaps three nights a week on average. I guess we'd be considered "flexitarians" in the new foodie lexicon. Personally, I prefer the term omnivore, but since we must label and re-label everything......back to the point, we decided to go meatless this week, not as a social, economic, or moral choice, but more in the spirit of a self-dare. The opening salvo was Cajun Tofu Pasta on Sunday, followed by these Black Bean Enchiladas on Monday. I came up with the recipe by imagining how I remember doing beef enchiladas, and then substituting in the beans. We added a spicy twist: a can of chipotles in adobo that appeared in our lazy susan from who knows where almost six months ago! The spicy sauce that holds the peppers would stand in for enchilada sauce here.
Overall, these turned out pretty good. I didn't really care for the cheese, though Amy loved it. She also suggests "smooshing" (yes, that is the technical term)- and I quote- 80% of the beans (this from Miss "I don't like to measure"). Amy also found the tomatoes to be lacking, and I agree. I think next time I would up them to a full pound (4 tomatoes). The chipotles provided enough heat without overwhelming everything else, but were a bit on the strong side. I kind of forgot they were jalapenos.
Chipotle Black Bean Enchiladas
(Serves 4)1 small onion
1 tsp cumin, toasted and ground
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp ground oregano
1 green bell pepper
2 tomatoes
1 10-oz can black beans, drained
8 whole wheat flour tortillas
1/2 cup chipotle peppers in adobo
4 ounces cheddar cheese
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a skillet over medium low heat, cook onions until translucent. Add cumin, garlic powder, and ground oregano. Cook for just a moment before adding bell pepper and tomatoes. Cook 5 minutes more before adding beans. Remove the chipotle peppers from their sauce, reserving as much of the sauce as possible. Chop the peppers and add them to the skillet, remove from heat and set aside.
Slather one side of each tortilla in the reserved adobo sauce. Spoon about two tablespoons worth of the bean mixture onto the other side of each tortilla, roll into enchiladas and place seam side down in a baking dish. Top with cheese, grated or sliced, as you like. Bake for 15 minutes, or until sauce is dry and cheese is melted.
