This is my first post to the Time to DIY site. Actually, this is my first blog post ever. I’m not sure why I felt compelled to admit that up front. Maybe to garner sympathy and compassion? At any rate, I hope this will be the first of many posts to come.
Since it’s Cinco de Mayo week, the dinner theme was easy: Mexican. I decided on Veggie Green Chile Enchiladas with some homemade salsa and guacamole. And some store bought chips. Does anyone make those themselves?
In the spirit of giving credit where credit is due, this is an adaptation of a chicken green chile enchilada recipe I got from my Aunt Peggy. We don’t eat a lot of meat in our house so I swapped out the chicken with a veggie based filling. See recipe card at end of post for a concise ingredient list and cooking instructions.
I began by making the filling, consisting of red, green, orange and yellow bell peppers, onion, mushrooms, and spinach.
Cut the peppers into thin strips, dice a half of an onion, and throw it all into a sauté pan with a tablespoon or two of olive oil at medium-high heat. Season with salt and pepper to taste. I tend not to use exact measurements when cooking–something that drives my baker-oriented wife crazy.
After five minutes, add the mushrooms (8 caps sliced) and minced garlic (1-2 cloves, depending on your preference) and cook for another three minutes. You should add another pinch of salt and pepper at this point (I like to season in layers) and you may need to add another tablespoon of olive oil depending on how dry your pan. Your pan should look something like this when you add the mushrooms:
Once the mushrooms cook down, you’re ready to add two cups of spinach to the pan with another drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper (did I say I like to season in layers?). It may seem like a lot of spinach, but it always cooks down more than you expect.
Cook the spinach just until it’s wilted (about two minutes). It should resemble the following:
Transfer to a bowl for use later.
Now on to the enchilada sauce: the most important part of the dish.
Start by combining 32 ounces of your favorite salsa verde (I used La Victoria Thick ‘n Chunky, in the mild form, but that’s primarily for the kids–feel free to bump up the heat with a medium or hot product!) and one cup of chicken broth. Cook for approximately 10 minutes, until the sauce reduces by about a third. At that point, you’re ready to add a cup of sour cream and a cup of chopped cilantro to the pan. Simmer for another five minutes to bring together the flavors, at which point it should look like this:
Word to the wise, this sauce is good just on its own or on a chip. Watch out for interlopers trying to steal some.
With the components done, the rest is just assembly. Start by putting a little sauce on the bottom of a 9×13 pan.
Next, put two flour (or corn, if that’s your thing) tortillas on top of that sauce, add 1/3 of the veggie filling, 1/4 of the shredded Monterey Jack cheese (I put a block of cheese into a food processor, but you could just buy a bag of shredded cheese from the store), and some more sauce. The first layer will look like this:
You can see that I actually cut my tortillas in half before putting them in the pan. I do this primarily because it makes it easier to cut the dish into nice pieces for serving. If you have sharp knives or plan on serving up bigger portions, you can just throw in whole tortillas. Repeat this layering process 3-4 times, depending on the height of your baking dish. Make sure you end with a top layer of just tortilla, sauce and cheese.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for approximately 30 minutes, until the cheese is browned and the sauce is bubbling.
Allow to cool for five minutes. Now it’s time to dish up, serve with some salsa and guacamole and enjoy!
- 1 green bell pepper
- 1 orange bell pepper
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 yellow bell pepper
- ½ large onion (diced)
- 8 white mushroom caps (or any preferred varietal)
- 1 garlic clove (minced)
- 2 cups spinach (fresh)
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- Salsa verde (32 oz)
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 cup cilantro (chopped)
- 1 cup sour cream
- 2 cups Monterey Jack cheese (shredded)
- 8 flour tortillas (fajita size)
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Cut all peppers into thin strips and sauté with diced onion, 1 tbsp of olive oil and salt and pepper over medium-high heat for 5 minutes
- Slice mushrooms and add to peppers mix, with another 1 tbsp of olive oil and additional salt and pepper. Sauté combined mix for 3 minutes.
- Reduce heat to low and add spinach leaves to pan with another 1 tbsp of olive oil and additional salt and pepper, if desired, and cook just until spinach leaves start to wilt.
- Transfer veggie mix to bowl and set aside for use later.
- In a large sauce pan, combine salsa verde and chicken broth, cooking for approximately 10 minutes or until sauce reduces by a third.
- Add sour cream and cilantro to sauce pan and simmer for another 5 minutes to bring flavors together.
- In a 9x13 pan, put a thin layer of sauce on bottom of pan, then add two tortillas on top of sauce, ⅓ of veggie mix, ⅓ of Monterey Jack cheese, and additional sauce. Repeat in three alternating layers, ending with a fourth layer of just tortilla, sauce and cheese on top.
- Bake in 350 degree oven or until cheese starts to brown and sauce is bubbling.
- Broil for 1-2 minutes to further brown top layer of cheese, if so desired. Watch broiler closely to avoid overcooking!
- Allow to cool for 5 minutes before cutting and serving.
Well done, John! I’ve made your aunt’s chicken version, but I think I’ll “make it mine” by doing a combo of veggies and chicken next time. 🙂 Love Debby’s chip dip.
Thanks, Rachel! Great idea about adding chicken as well.
Yum, looks good! You’re cooking for me next time I’m out. That’s right, now you know Aunt Peggy follows the blog : ) But where’s the guac recipe?