Black Bean Cheddar and Kale Enchiladas

Delicious, if a little time consuming. I made these corn crepes and the sauce from scratch, but you could save time and easily use store bought tortillas and enchilada sauce if need be.

I got a new camera from the handsome Scott for my birthday this week, a Cannon Powershot G15. What do you think?
I still have to spend some time learning the different functions. And I’m working at night in a kitchen with weird light (food photographs so amazingly well in natural light, but for some reason, despite my studenty-leisurely afternoons  I still spend the majority of my time in the kitchen after sunset).

So far my New Years Resolution to cook and post more has been…unsuccessful? Sorry. Discipline has never been my strong point. Maybe my new camera will help with that.

Hopefully this recipe will inspire someone, somewhere. I was indeed inspired by another blogger, raudette . She’s good at it! I had to make these, and make them NOW.

Black Bean, Cheddar and Kale Enchiladas

Sauce:

• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground cilantro
• 2 cups chicken stock (or veggie)
• 1 tsp flour
• 1 tsp chipotle powder
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 tsp coconut oil
• 1/2 cup crushed tomatoes
• 1 tsp honey

1. In a saucepan, heat coconut oil until liquid, and add cumin, chipotle, cilantro and flour, cook for 30 seconds.
2. Add tomato paste, tomato sauce and stock, bring to a boil.
3. Turn heat down and simmer for 10 minutes or so until thickened.
4. Season with salt and pepper, set aside.

Filling

• 2 cups chopped green kale 
• 1 can black beans
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1 leek
• 1/2 large white onion
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 1 tsp red chili flakes (or to taste)
• 1 tsp cumin
• juice of 1/2 fresh lime
• splash of olive oil
• 1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
• Fresh cilantro (to taste)

1. Finely slice leek and onion and fry in coconut oil in a large skillet over high heat. 
2. Add garlic, and a splash of stock to keep onions from sticking. Add cumin, kale, garlic, corn and beans. Saute for 3 minutes of so.  Turn heat down to low and add olive oil and chili flakes.
3. Take mixture off heat and mix in cheese, season with fresh lime juice, salt and pepper.

Cornmeal Crepes 

Find my  recipe here . This time I used olive oil instead of butter (healthier) and it worked great.  I also cooked two crepes at a time in two pans to save time. Yields 10, using 1/4 cup of batter for each.

Assembly:

Pour sauce to cover the bottom of two baking dishes. Roll about 2 large tablespoons of kale mixture into the crepes and fit snugly into the dish, facing down.  Top with more sauce and grated cheese. Cook at 400 for 15 minutes, and then broil for the last 5 minutes to brown the cheese.

I served these  on quinoa with more sauce. Top with fresh cilantro, sour cream, avocado or whatever your hear desires (my heart desired some green habanero hot sauce from Mexico. I was not disappointed!)

I usually don’t eat a lot of cheese. I made an exception for tonight, due to the humongous block of pre-Christmas cheddar sitting in the fridge, untouched. It was lovely.

In a few weeks time, I will be embarking on a major candida cleanse. This will test my said lack of discipline immensely.  No sugar, no coffee, no alcohol,  no gluten and no dairy for a month. It sounds boring, but on the upside I’m hoping to try out some new and creative recipes!

Has anyone tried a cleanse like this?

What was the hardest part?

Vegetarian Enchiladas with Cornmeal Crepes

Mmmm…these satisfied a major Mexican craving I was having. Looking around the kitchen, I had all the basics- tomato sauce, cheese, cilantro, cumin, onion, and avocados but alas, no tortillas (turns out I didn’t look hard enough, they were clearly in the freezer). Meanwhile,  I decided to improvise and made up some super easy cornmeal crepe batter. I’m glad I did! They worked perfectly.

Here they are, complete. While the batter was cooling in the fridge, I whipped up the filling. Feeling like something vegetarian, I opted for tempeh instead of meat.  Tempeh is fantastic because one, it is a a much healthier alternative to tofu in that it is not heavily processed. It is made by fermenting whole soybeans,  and contains more fiber and protein than tofu. Secondly, I much prefer working with the firmer and crumbly texture of tempeh over softer tofu. It has a mild nutty flavour. I used Henry’s Gourmet Organic Tempeh with Basil. If you have never experimented with tempeh before, you should try it out!

I cooked the tempeh with onions, garlic, shredded carrots, corn,  kidney beans, shredded cheese and cilantro and wrapped them tightly the cornmeal crepes.

maybe put a bit more filling than this

Place wraps side by side in a greased baking dish (I made 6), and top with more cheese and generous amounts of tomato sauce. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes at 400.  Garnish with sour cream, fresh guacamole and more cilantro.

Finished product! I have a mild obsession with tomato sauce, so next time I will absolutely  smother the enchiladas in it. Also, we only had mozzarella but this dish definitely calls for something sharper, like a jalapeno pepper jack. Otherwise, very filling and tasty and fun to make too!

Cornmeal Crepes ingredients: 

• 1/2 cup and two tablespoons flour- I used whole wheat bread flour
• 1/4 cup and two tablespoons cornmeal
• 1 tsp salt
• 2.5 tablespoons melted butter
• 1 1/4 cup milk ( I used almond milk, because that’s all we had)
• 2 eggs

1. Combine dry ingredients in bowl
2. Whisk eggs and milk and slowly add to dry ingredients until batter forms
3. Add melted butter last
4. Refrigerate for 30 minutes (or however much time you can afford. I prepared the enchilada filling while cooling, and then did the crepes last)
5. Lightly grease  with coconut oil and on medium-high heat pour 1/3 cup of batter into frying pan, quickly circling pan to evenly spread batter
6. Cook until small bubbles appear at the service and edges curl up slightly, flip. Should take about 1.5 minutes on either side
7. Repeat!

Filling ingredients

• 1 pack tempeh
• 1/2 large onion
• 3 shredded carrots
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 tsp onion salt
• black pepper
• 1/2 tsp cayenne (or to taste)
• 1/2 cup frozen corn
• 2 cups shredded cheese
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 tsp paprika
• fresh cilantro
• 1 can black, pinto or kidney beans
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste

1. In large pan fry roughly chopped onion with coconut oil, add cumin, paprika and garlic and cook until fragrant
2. Add well crumbled tempeh and tomato paste and mix
3. Add carrots, corn and beans and season with salt and pepper
4. Add cayenne and mix well
5. Add fresh cilantro and 1 cup of cheese.
6. Cook on medium low while preparing crepes. When crepes are ready, use them to  wrap the filling like an envelope, and place tightly in greased baking dish, seam side down
7. Top with remaining cheese and tomato sauce
8. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes, until bubbling
9. Let rest for 5 minutes before topping with garnish of choice

Pretty simple. I had the tomato sauce already made from a botched attempt at cauliflower-crust pizza (very tasty, not a failure per say, just not yet post-able) consisting of  crushed tomatoes simmered with garlic, oregano and olive oil. As for the guac, I just mashed an avocado with hot sauce, salt, pepper and lime juice.

This dish would be great served with cilantro and lime brown rice or perhaps a corn and quinoa salad.

Do you like my new step by step photos? Alone, this level of multitasking is beyond me, but was thankfully made possible by Scott, who broke out the good camera and captured the process.