Enchiladas

This is one of my very favorite dishes.  It is so worth the extra time needed to prepare it.  Make it on a day you have more time, like a weekend, or simply prepare some parts ahead of time (see notes below).  The payoff is worth EVERY second.  After you make it, you can say you actually made your own fresh enchilada sauce (instead of buying canned). The fresh spinach is much tastier than frozen.  Do it!

Enchilada Sauce:
2 T. grapeseed oil (or olive oil)
1 onion, diced
3 large green chiles (such as Anaheim- mild, or Poblano-med.)
3 t. chili powder
1 1/2 t. ground cumin
1 t. marjoram (or oregano)
4-6 large tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 t. sugar
2 t. salt

Potato and Spinach filling:
5 sm. yukon golden potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 lb. of fresh spinach (2 bunches), washed, de-stemmed and chopped
 1 T. grapeseed oil (or olive oil)
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 t. ground cumin
1/4 c. water or veggie broth
2 T. fresh lemon juice
1/2 c. pepitas (sm. pumpkin seeds)
1 t. salt
ground black pepper to taste

1 can refried black beans
2 c. shredded vegan cheddar cheese (Daiya)
vegan sour cream for topping (tofutti brand or see recipe from blog)
14 sm. corn tortillas

Sauce:
Place chiles directly over the stove, on a gas burner over high heat.  Use tongs to rotate the pepper as the skin starts to blacken and blister.  Place in a large glass or ceramic bowl and cover.  Allow to sit for 15 minutes.  Peel away as much of the skin as possible (it's o.k. that some black remain).  Deseed and chop the chiles. Set aside.

In a medium sauce pan, heat oil over med. heat.  Add onions and cook for 7 minutes or until softened.  Add the remaining sauce ingredients and cook an additional 5 minutes, covered.  Set aside to cool.  Puree with an immersion or regular blender until smooth.  Set aside.

While this is cooking, toast the pepitas in a dry pan over medium heat for 3-5 minutes, or until slightly browned, stirring occasionally.  They will "sweat" so set aside on a paper towel or paper napkin when done. Once they are cooled, chop them coarsely.


Cover potatoes with water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower heat to medium, cover and cook for 20 minutes.  Drain.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat, and add garlic.  After about 1-2 minutes (when it's sizzling), add the spinach, stirring constantly.  Partially cover and cook 6 minutes or until spinach is wilted, and sprinkle with salt. Add potatoes, water (veggie broth), lemon juice, cumin, 1/4 c. pepitas, and salt.  Mash the potatoes somewhat into the spinach using the back of the spoon.  Season with a dash of pepper, and place into a bowl.

Assembly line:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Place sauce in a medium bowl, place beans in a separate bowl, have spinach filling ready, get a pie plate ready and fill with about 3/4 c. of sauce, have casserole dish ready (9x13") and layer a bit of enchilada sauce evenly across the bottom, have a dry skillet ready for warming corn tortillas (med. heat), have the corn tortillas on hand, as well as the shredded cheese.

Take a corn tortilla and warm it on the skillet for 30 seconds, then flip it over and heat 30 more seconds.  Drop the tortilla into the sauce in the pie plate and coat the entire tortilla, both sides with sauce.  Place the tortilla in the casserole dish, place about a T. of beans and about a T. of spinach mixture on the tortilla (pinch into a line to make rolling easier), top with a bit of cheese, roll it up and place it in the casserole dish.  Repeat until filled, tightly packing the enchiladas next to each other. Add more sauce in pie plate as needed.  You will develop a rhythm with heating the next tortilla and filling another one simultaneously.  Also, embrace your messy hands! This is fun. :)

Pour remaining sauce over the top, followed by remaining cheese, and lastly, sprinkle the remaining pepitas over the top.  Cover with foil and bake 25 minutes.  Remove foil and bake an additional 15 minutes.  Cool.  Top with sour cream and serve!  Enjoy!

Notes:  Since this dish is a bit more time consuming than other dishes I make, you can prepare some of these parts ahead of time.  Here are some tips:  Wash, de-stem and chop the spinach the night before.  The entire sauce recipe can also be made ahead of time.