Weeknight Dinner Recipe: Veggie Enchiladas

When it starts getting cold, you want to turn on the oven and eat something that stays with you. Here is a nice alternative to the typical casserole. It's a Martha Stewart recipe from Food Everyday (i've added a couple of twists) and a great weeknight dinner. Nutritionists have recently suggested eating more vegetarian main dishes weekly to improve one's health, so here it is and I also get to make my vegetarian readers happy!

Serves 8

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for baking dishes
  
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
  
• 1/4 cup tomato paste 
  
• 1 can (14 1/2 ounces) reduced-sodium vegetable broth
  
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
  
• 3 cups grated pepper Jack cheese (12 ounces)
  
• 1 can (15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained
  
• 1 box (10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
  
• 1 box (10 ounces) frozen corn kernels, thawed (make sure it's no salt)
  
• 6 scallions, thinly sliced, white and green parts separated
  
• 16 corn tortillas (6-inch)

Directions

1. Make sauce: In a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium. Add 1 teaspoon cumin, flour, and tomato paste; cook, whisking, 1 minute. Whisk in broth and 3/4 cup water; bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, and cook until slightly thickened, 5 to 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, and set aside.*
2. Make filling: In a large bowl, combine 2 cups cheese, beans, spinach, corn, scallion whites, and remaining 1 teaspoon cumin; season with Kosher salt and pepper. (I suggest adding some sliced black olives and season with crushed red pepper flakes). 
3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly oil two 8-inch square baking dishes; set aside. Stack tortillas, and wrap in damp paper towels; microwave on high for 1 minute. Or stack and wrap in aluminum foil, and heat in oven for 5 to 10 minutes. 
4. Top each tortilla with a heaping 1/3 cup of filling; roll up tightly and arrange, seam side down, in prepared baking dishes.
5. Dividing evenly, sprinkle enchiladas with remaining 1 cup cheese, and top with sauce. Bake, uncovered, until hot and bubbly, 15 to 20 minutes. 
6. Cool 5 minutes; serve garnished with scallion greens and sliced avocados. 

* A mexican dish without a little bit of heat is just useless.  I would add some hot sauce at this moment. However much as you would like. 

Here is the best part...you can make it partially on one day to finish on another:

To freeze: Prepare enchiladas through step 3; top with cheese, and cover baking dishes with plastic wrap and then aluminum foil. Place sauce in an airtight container. Freeze enchiladas and sauce for up to 2 months.

To bake from frozen: Thaw sauce in refrigerator overnight (or microwave on high 2 minutes, stirring once halfway through). Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Remove foil and plastic wrap from baking dishes, and pour sauce over enchiladas; cover with foil. Bake 30 minutes; remove foil, and bake until bubbly, about 15 minutes more. Cool 5 minutes before serving.