So here’s some news for ya – my husband and I are going VEGETARIAN for the entire month of May. ? *gasp* ? Yes! We are!
Aaron adopted a project I did a few years ago, where instead of trying to abide by a few new year’s resolutions for an entire year, I tried to abide by a single one for an entire month – a different one every month – in the hopes of changing some bad habits and adopting a healthier lifestyle. So far this year he has given up added salt (which was a MAJOR feat for him – as long as I’ve known him, he has salted EVERYTHING even before tasting it!), given up soda, attempted to do yoga or ROMWOD every day, and given up sugar. I joined in with him during his yoga month and I definitely noticed a difference in how I felt! Then we gave up sugar together – the month of Easter / Cadbury Crème Eggs – not quite sure what I was thinking there. And this month we have decided to go vegetarian together.
In preparation for that I thought I’d try some vegetarian recipes so we had some new menu items to try this month. This was the first one we tried and it was so good! I’ll admit – it is hard to go wrong with enchiladas with me. I love enchiladas. The only thing that can really screw them up is the sauce (and I have made some questionable homemade enchilada sauces in my time). But these were great and the BEST part about these?! It gave me an excuse to make my daughter a cheese enchilada (there’s no way I’m getting black beans or green chilies in her at this time in her life), and she actually kinda sorta liked it! She thought the sauce was too spicy (it was) but she liked it enough to ask me to make it again for her, but with a milder sauce. WINNING.
So I did love these enchiladas but next time I would probably swap out manchego cheese for the topping with something a little more melty, like Monterey jack. Or I could top with crumbled cotija cheese, another favorite. She also mentions in her blog that she wasn’t a fan of the corn tortillas – I only had corn tortillas, but next time I would also make these with flour. This recipe is already on the Vegetarian Month menu for another round later this month! Two thumbs up on this recipe – give it a try! You can find the original recipe //here//.
Ingredients
12 small corn or flour tortillas* (she recommends flour and I would echo this)
1 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 4-ounce can diced green chilies
1 28-ounce can red enchilada sauce, such as Las Palmas (I got two 15oz cans and only ended up using one)
1/2 cup grated manchego cheese + more for topping (or sub another Mexican cheese, such as Cojita or Pepper Jack)
1/4 cup light sour cream or greek yogurt
Topping Options: Diced green onion, cilantro, grilled fajita veggies, avocado, salsa, sour cream, lime wedges, etc.
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and position a baking rack in the middle of the oven.
2. Combine black beans, green chilies, sour cream and manchego cheese in a mixing bowl. Taste and add salt and pepper if desired. Set aside.
3. Pour a small amount of enchilada sauce to lightly coat the bottom of a 9×13 dish.
4. Transfer one tortilla at a time to the baking dish, scoop in 2 Tbsp of the black bean filling and roll up. Place seam side down and continue until the pan is filled – should be about 10-12 enchiladas.
Top enchiladas with a bit more enchilada sauce down the middle.
5. Top with a bit more cheese and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly.
6. Serve with toppings such as avocado, guacamole, salsa, fajita veggies, sour cream, green onion, cilantro or lettuce.