Looking for vegetarian enchilada recipes
September 9, 2010 7:07 PM Subscribe
What are your best vegetarian enchilada recipes?
For some reason I've volunteered to make enchiladas for a crowd. What are your favorite vegetarian enchilada recipes? I'd particularly like help with the sauce. The enchilada sauce recipes I find on Google are all over the place and I don't want to make a bunch of test batches to find the best one.
For some reason I've volunteered to make enchiladas for a crowd. What are your favorite vegetarian enchilada recipes? I'd particularly like help with the sauce. The enchilada sauce recipes I find on Google are all over the place and I don't want to make a bunch of test batches to find the best one.
I absolutely love Rick Bayless' Tomato-and-Jalapeño-Sauced Enchiladas with sour cream and aged cheese. They ate amazingly delicious despite being very simple and traditional. Enjoy!
Serves 4
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1 to 2 jalapeño chiles (or 2 to 3 serranos), stemmed and cut into quarters
One 28-ounce can diced tomatoes in juice (preferably fire-toasted)
1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable or olive oil, plus some for the tortillas
2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
12 corn tortillas, preferably store-bought
Salt
Toppings:
1/4 cup Mexican crema, sour cream or creme fraiche, thinned with about 1 tablespoon milk
1/2 medium white onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 cup grated Mexican queso anejo, Romano, or Parmesan
Turn the oven on to 350 degrees. With a food processor or blender running, drop in the garlic and chiles one piece at a time, letting each piece get finely chopped before adding the next. Drain the tomatoes, reserving their juice. Add the tomatoes and process until smooth.
Heat the oil in a medium (3 quart) saucepan over medium-high. Add te purée and cook, stirring nearly constantly, until the mixture has reduced to the consistency of thick tomato sauce, about 7 minutes. Ad the broth and reserved tomato juice and summer over medium-low for 10 minutes to blend the flavors.
While the sauce is simmering, lay out he tortillas on a baking sheet and spray or brush lightly on both sides with oil, then stack them in twos. Slide the tortillas into the oven and bake just long enough to make them soft and pliable, about 3 minutes. Remove from the I've. And stack them in a single pile; cover with a kitchen towel to keep warm.
Taste and season the sauce with salt, usually about 1 teaspoon. Holding a warm tortilla by one single edge, dip most if it into the hot sauce, then lay it on a deep dinner plate and fold it in quarters. Do the same with 2 more tortillas, slightly overlapping them on the plate. Ladle a generous 1/4. Up of hot sauce over the tortillas. Drizzle with cream and sprinkle with onion, cilantro and cheese.
posted by two lights above the sea at 7:44 PM on September 9, 2010
Serves 4
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1 to 2 jalapeño chiles (or 2 to 3 serranos), stemmed and cut into quarters
One 28-ounce can diced tomatoes in juice (preferably fire-toasted)
1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable or olive oil, plus some for the tortillas
2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
12 corn tortillas, preferably store-bought
Salt
Toppings:
1/4 cup Mexican crema, sour cream or creme fraiche, thinned with about 1 tablespoon milk
1/2 medium white onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 cup grated Mexican queso anejo, Romano, or Parmesan
Turn the oven on to 350 degrees. With a food processor or blender running, drop in the garlic and chiles one piece at a time, letting each piece get finely chopped before adding the next. Drain the tomatoes, reserving their juice. Add the tomatoes and process until smooth.
Heat the oil in a medium (3 quart) saucepan over medium-high. Add te purée and cook, stirring nearly constantly, until the mixture has reduced to the consistency of thick tomato sauce, about 7 minutes. Ad the broth and reserved tomato juice and summer over medium-low for 10 minutes to blend the flavors.
While the sauce is simmering, lay out he tortillas on a baking sheet and spray or brush lightly on both sides with oil, then stack them in twos. Slide the tortillas into the oven and bake just long enough to make them soft and pliable, about 3 minutes. Remove from the I've. And stack them in a single pile; cover with a kitchen towel to keep warm.
Taste and season the sauce with salt, usually about 1 teaspoon. Holding a warm tortilla by one single edge, dip most if it into the hot sauce, then lay it on a deep dinner plate and fold it in quarters. Do the same with 2 more tortillas, slightly overlapping them on the plate. Ladle a generous 1/4. Up of hot sauce over the tortillas. Drizzle with cream and sprinkle with onion, cilantro and cheese.
posted by two lights above the sea at 7:44 PM on September 9, 2010
PS- Sorry for the typos, I am on my iPhone!
posted by two lights above the sea at 7:45 PM on September 9, 2010
posted by two lights above the sea at 7:45 PM on September 9, 2010
Tex-Mex cheese enchiladas are always a crowd pleaser. I pretty much use this recipe and just make sure to use shortening or oil instead of lard so it's truly vegetarian. It's hardly "healthy" but enchiladas aren't really health food anyway.
Bonus: the chili gravy goes beautifully on top of tamales, too. Mmmm. Now I want to make enchiladas.
posted by devinemissk at 7:52 PM on September 9, 2010 [1 favorite]
Bonus: the chili gravy goes beautifully on top of tamales, too. Mmmm. Now I want to make enchiladas.
posted by devinemissk at 7:52 PM on September 9, 2010 [1 favorite]
I am thinking that enchiladas are the perfect chance to go kind of nuts. When I make quesadillas - I sometimes so a sautee of zucchini & corn which I think would really lend itself to quesadillas (hat tip to my friend who suggested that corn addition). Or how about mushrooms and spinach? Spinach and potatoes? Any of the aforementioned can be flavorized (ha!) by sauteeing an onion & garlic and adding some cumin, chili powder, mexican oregano and red pepper flakes. Or just keeping it simple and making your own refried beans and mexican rice?
Here is also a link to a REALLY delicious Rick Bayless enchilada recipe that you could vegetarianize by using veggie broth and its delicious yum at the link
Good luck, sounds like a delicious party.
And, corn tortillas only - anything else is just womp womp womp :)
posted by heartquake at 7:58 PM on September 9, 2010
Here is also a link to a REALLY delicious Rick Bayless enchilada recipe that you could vegetarianize by using veggie broth and its delicious yum at the link
Good luck, sounds like a delicious party.
And, corn tortillas only - anything else is just womp womp womp :)
posted by heartquake at 7:58 PM on September 9, 2010
I'm just here to say that canned enchilada sauce from the bottom shelf at the grocery store is AWESOME.
Like many traditional Mexican dishes, the sauce and the tortillas are easy. It's what you put between them that counts.
posted by carsonb at 8:26 PM on September 9, 2010
Like many traditional Mexican dishes, the sauce and the tortillas are easy. It's what you put between them that counts.
posted by carsonb at 8:26 PM on September 9, 2010
Black beans (seasoned appropriately) & cream cheese. No, really. Not too much cream cheese — no more than an ounce per enchilada — but damn.
posted by Johnny Assay at 8:32 PM on September 9, 2010
posted by Johnny Assay at 8:32 PM on September 9, 2010
Corn tortillas, warmed in mole sauce, with black beans inside and a light sprinkling of cheese. Bake until melty and hot. Seriously delicious. For the mole sauce, follow the directions on a bottle of Tia Rosa mole. It's nowhere near as good as what you can buy from little old ladies in Mexico City, but it will definitely do.
I also like to make enchiladas suizas (I don't use a recipe, but something like this might do: http://www.squidoo.com/chicken-enchilada-recipe) and use nopales instead of chicken for a vegetarian version. Nopales and cheese are SOO good together.
If you make enchiladas suizas, make your own tomatillo salsa. Vast quantities can be had fairly quickly. Ingredients include fresh tomatillos, white or yellow onion, cilantro, jalapenos or serranos, salt, pepper, and some of the broth from cooking the tomatillos (enough to give the salsa your desired consistency). To guestimate quantities, maybe 2 lb tomatillos, 1 c onion, one bunch cilantro, 2-4 chiles, depending on desired spiciness, and other ingredients to taste. I remove as many stems as possible from the cilantro and then put everything through the blender. (Stems can cause tangles.) Or Teh Google can guide you.
posted by bloggerwench at 8:51 PM on September 9, 2010
I also like to make enchiladas suizas (I don't use a recipe, but something like this might do: http://www.squidoo.com/chicken-enchilada-recipe) and use nopales instead of chicken for a vegetarian version. Nopales and cheese are SOO good together.
If you make enchiladas suizas, make your own tomatillo salsa. Vast quantities can be had fairly quickly. Ingredients include fresh tomatillos, white or yellow onion, cilantro, jalapenos or serranos, salt, pepper, and some of the broth from cooking the tomatillos (enough to give the salsa your desired consistency). To guestimate quantities, maybe 2 lb tomatillos, 1 c onion, one bunch cilantro, 2-4 chiles, depending on desired spiciness, and other ingredients to taste. I remove as many stems as possible from the cilantro and then put everything through the blender. (Stems can cause tangles.) Or Teh Google can guide you.
posted by bloggerwench at 8:51 PM on September 9, 2010
Best answer: Rethinking my laziness and failure to provide a recipe above, I found a tomatillo salsa recipe that's fairly close to what I make. Seed the chiles to avoid getting way too spicy, and taste as you go. It's easy to add a little more chile or salt or onion to get the right balance you want. Salsa recipes kind of annoy me because there is so much variation among the fresh ingredients.
I prefer not to use garlic in green salsa, as I think it overpowers the more delicate flavor of tomatillos. I also will very briefly blanch the onions if they are really strong. This is apparently controversial, and once led to a near brawl with a chef who was appalled that I would do such a thing. So, um, don't tell anyone if you do that, just to be safe.
posted by bloggerwench at 9:16 PM on September 9, 2010
I prefer not to use garlic in green salsa, as I think it overpowers the more delicate flavor of tomatillos. I also will very briefly blanch the onions if they are really strong. This is apparently controversial, and once led to a near brawl with a chef who was appalled that I would do such a thing. So, um, don't tell anyone if you do that, just to be safe.
posted by bloggerwench at 9:16 PM on September 9, 2010
If you're okay with something non-traditional we really love these spinach-mushroom enchiladas from cooking light.
They also rely heavily on pre-made ingredients which makes them ideal for a weeknight dinner.
posted by Saminal at 10:39 PM on September 9, 2010
They also rely heavily on pre-made ingredients which makes them ideal for a weeknight dinner.
posted by Saminal at 10:39 PM on September 9, 2010
OMG OMG OMG the best vegetarian enchilada recipe EVAR is Spinach Enchiladas Suizas from The Vegetarian Epicure, Book 2. This recipe will get the entire kitchen dirty, but it's so freakin' worth it.
posted by goblinbox at 12:22 AM on September 10, 2010
posted by goblinbox at 12:22 AM on September 10, 2010
I make these sweet potato & black bean enchiladas pretty regularly. And even with only two of us in the house, a pan of them disappears in no time.
posted by ThatSomething at 7:30 AM on September 10, 2010
posted by ThatSomething at 7:30 AM on September 10, 2010
I try not to refry the beans because of all the fat it adds. I'm going to put avocado and yogurt or sour cream on top, so I think they have enough fat. If you don't care, then that's a great step to add plenty of spices (allspice, cumin, coriander, b pepper, r pepper, touch of clove) to the hot oil after you cook the onions so that they get 30 seconds to become more active prior to adding the beans themselves.
I think the key to great enchilada beans is to include flavor when you pressure cook them. A tea-ball (or cheese cloth) with the above spices, a cinnamon stick, some herbs, a bisected onion, a celery stick, a carrot, all go on top of the beans before you close it up. When they're done, the liquid and the beans are packed with flavor. Pick off the veggies, add some salt and they're ready to go.
As far as sauce, I like to make mole verde because it's so easy. Roast a bunch of halved tomatillos and poblanos. Toast (shelled!) pumpkin seeds. Remove the skins from the poblanos and grind the pumpkin seeds. Saute onion and garlic. Toss it all in a blender. Cilantro and parsley optional.
posted by a robot made out of meat at 7:39 AM on September 10, 2010
I think the key to great enchilada beans is to include flavor when you pressure cook them. A tea-ball (or cheese cloth) with the above spices, a cinnamon stick, some herbs, a bisected onion, a celery stick, a carrot, all go on top of the beans before you close it up. When they're done, the liquid and the beans are packed with flavor. Pick off the veggies, add some salt and they're ready to go.
As far as sauce, I like to make mole verde because it's so easy. Roast a bunch of halved tomatillos and poblanos. Toast (shelled!) pumpkin seeds. Remove the skins from the poblanos and grind the pumpkin seeds. Saute onion and garlic. Toss it all in a blender. Cilantro and parsley optional.
posted by a robot made out of meat at 7:39 AM on September 10, 2010
I always do enchiladas for pot lucks. I normally just mix black beans, refried beans, spanish rice, and tiny star pasta or quinoa in a tortilla shell and dose the assemblage in store bought enchilada sauce.
posted by cirrostratus at 8:28 AM on September 10, 2010
posted by cirrostratus at 8:28 AM on September 10, 2010
This recipe for Potato and Zucchini Enchiladas with Red Chili Sauce is my go-to, especially because it doesn't contain beans and you can thus use beans as a side dish with it. And it's zucchini season now, too! The chili sauce is great and also sort of a pain, but you did say you wanted one. It is still very good with canned enchilada sauce.
posted by jocelmeow at 11:10 AM on September 10, 2010
posted by jocelmeow at 11:10 AM on September 10, 2010
Best answer: I've got a few enchilada recipes I'll lay down here. Full disclosure: gringo speaking. I make no claims to authenticity, but I will vouch deliciousness.
Which ever recipe you go with, the most important part of making enchiladas is your technique. The most authentic way to prepare the (corn!) tortillas is to pass them through hot fat/oil, then sauce, then on to be rolled. It's also the most likely to make a huge mess and burn your fingers. Another totally acceptable way is to spray with oil (or brush) and pop in the oven for a minute or two. They need to be pliable and warm. You're looking for your tortillas to absorb sauce, but not go mush. Also, I grew up in Albuquerque, and "New Mexico Style" enchiladas are even easier. You stack layers of tortillas and filling like a lasagna. If anyone says this isn't a valid enchilada making technique, they can take it up with me. *knuckle crack*
Basic Red Sauce:
1. Quickly rinse/brush the chiles off. Snip/rip the stem ends off over a sink. Decide how spicy you want your sauce. I'll generally remove all the seeds, and this is plenty spicy. If you leave more seeds and ribs, you'll get more heat. You can mostly knock the seeds out over the sink. Tear the pods into a few pieces.
2. Heat your stock and pour it over the chiles. Let them steep for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, put a few tablespoons of oil in a skillet and saute the onion until soft, then add garlic. You don't need to develop any color on the onions.
3. Place the chile pods, onions, garlic and oil in a blender along with 1.5 C. steeping stock. Let blend for several minutes (5ish). If it looks very thick, add more stock. Empty the contents into the skillet and cook for a few minutes until a thick consistency, and slightly darkened. Add more reserved steeping liquid if it cooks down too much.
This is excellent with the Tex-mex staple— colby-jack cheese.
Green Chile Creamy Sauce:
1. Chop the chiles roughly, and toss them in the blender with the milk. Mmm. Spicy green milk.
2. Make a roux. Melt the butter over low heat until it bubbles, foams, then stops bubbling, but not browning. You're cooking out the water. Sprinkle the flour over it, and cook, stirring constantly for 3-5 minutes. Gradually add in your blender mixture, whisking. Bring it up to a simmer, and cook until thick. Season with salt (try 1tsp) and pepper. You can use white pepper if you want to avoid black speckles.
Of course, nothing is really bad with colby-jack, but this is also great with black beans, cooked until their sauce is thickened slightly. Mushrooms, cooked down with onions and a bit of beer and cheese would be good too.
Lazy (gringo)Molé sauce:
2. Blend every thing together for 5-10 minutes. Return to low heat, and warm and cook. Season with sugar and salt. You want a spicy/sweet/savory balance, not any one flavor more dominant than the others. Cook until very thick.
This is great with everything. A very non-traditional favorite in my kitchen is with baked tofu. Drain and pat dry a block of medium firmness tofu. Cube it, and toss the cubes with a quick mix of soy and canola oil. Bake at 450 on a cookie sheet for 20-30 minutes, flipping occasionally, until slightly crunchy. Toss the cubes with a bit of mole before using it as a filling. This makes a bit of sauce, and the leftovers keep for a long time. Or just eat them. With a spoon. Out of the skillet.
posted by fontophilic at 4:04 PM on September 10, 2010 [2 favorites]
Which ever recipe you go with, the most important part of making enchiladas is your technique. The most authentic way to prepare the (corn!) tortillas is to pass them through hot fat/oil, then sauce, then on to be rolled. It's also the most likely to make a huge mess and burn your fingers. Another totally acceptable way is to spray with oil (or brush) and pop in the oven for a minute or two. They need to be pliable and warm. You're looking for your tortillas to absorb sauce, but not go mush. Also, I grew up in Albuquerque, and "New Mexico Style" enchiladas are even easier. You stack layers of tortillas and filling like a lasagna. If anyone says this isn't a valid enchilada making technique, they can take it up with me. *knuckle crack*
Basic Red Sauce:
- One onion, diced
- A few cloves of garlic (to taste), smashed
- 2-3 cups
chickenvegetable stock - 4-6 dried chile pods*
- Salt, pepper, mexican oregano to taste
1. Quickly rinse/brush the chiles off. Snip/rip the stem ends off over a sink. Decide how spicy you want your sauce. I'll generally remove all the seeds, and this is plenty spicy. If you leave more seeds and ribs, you'll get more heat. You can mostly knock the seeds out over the sink. Tear the pods into a few pieces.
2. Heat your stock and pour it over the chiles. Let them steep for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, put a few tablespoons of oil in a skillet and saute the onion until soft, then add garlic. You don't need to develop any color on the onions.
3. Place the chile pods, onions, garlic and oil in a blender along with 1.5 C. steeping stock. Let blend for several minutes (5ish). If it looks very thick, add more stock. Empty the contents into the skillet and cook for a few minutes until a thick consistency, and slightly darkened. Add more reserved steeping liquid if it cooks down too much.
This is excellent with the Tex-mex staple— colby-jack cheese.
Green Chile Creamy Sauce:
- 3-4 Fresh green chiles. Hatch is just barely still in season, get em if you can. Poblanos plus a few jalapenos will work well out of season.
- 3 Tbs Flour
- 3 Tbs butter
- 2 C Milk (fat content up to you)
- Salt and Pepper to taste
1. Chop the chiles roughly, and toss them in the blender with the milk. Mmm. Spicy green milk.
2. Make a roux. Melt the butter over low heat until it bubbles, foams, then stops bubbling, but not browning. You're cooking out the water. Sprinkle the flour over it, and cook, stirring constantly for 3-5 minutes. Gradually add in your blender mixture, whisking. Bring it up to a simmer, and cook until thick. Season with salt (try 1tsp) and pepper. You can use white pepper if you want to avoid black speckles.
Of course, nothing is really bad with colby-jack, but this is also great with black beans, cooked until their sauce is thickened slightly. Mushrooms, cooked down with onions and a bit of beer and cheese would be good too.
Lazy (gringo)Molé sauce:
- 1 T. Oil
- One onion, diced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- .5oz unsweetened chocolate OR Mexican chocolate, skip the next 2 spices.
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/8th tsp cloves
- 1/2 tsp chipotle powder
- 1/2 tsp ancho/regular chile powder
- 2 Tbs rasins
- 1 tomato, seeded and chopped
- 1Tbs Almond Butter
- 1 Tbs Pepitas (if you can find them, they're shelled roasted pumpkin seeds)
- 1tsp. Sesame seeds
- 1-2 tsp brown sugar or piloncillo (to taste)
- 1.5c broth (or water), warm
- Salt and Pepper
2. Blend every thing together for 5-10 minutes. Return to low heat, and warm and cook. Season with sugar and salt. You want a spicy/sweet/savory balance, not any one flavor more dominant than the others. Cook until very thick.
This is great with everything. A very non-traditional favorite in my kitchen is with baked tofu. Drain and pat dry a block of medium firmness tofu. Cube it, and toss the cubes with a quick mix of soy and canola oil. Bake at 450 on a cookie sheet for 20-30 minutes, flipping occasionally, until slightly crunchy. Toss the cubes with a bit of mole before using it as a filling. This makes a bit of sauce, and the leftovers keep for a long time. Or just eat them. With a spoon. Out of the skillet.
posted by fontophilic at 4:04 PM on September 10, 2010 [2 favorites]
Amaranta Cocina's hibiscus enchiladas with chipotle sauce
posted by JABof72 at 9:35 PM on September 10, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by JABof72 at 9:35 PM on September 10, 2010 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Oh my goodness, these all look delicious! I think I will be making all of these recipes at some point in the future. Thanks for your help everybody!
posted by pemberkins at 5:00 PM on September 14, 2010
posted by pemberkins at 5:00 PM on September 14, 2010
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1 T olive oil
1 butternut squash, halved & seeded (I usually buy the pre-diced because I am lazy)
1 medium onion, diced
1-2 chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, drained & diced, plus 1 T sauce
1 clove minced garlic
3 oz lowfat cream cheese
1 tsp ground cumin
3 green onions, chopped
enchilada sauce (I normally just buy Trader Joe's because, again, lazy)
8 whole wheat or corn tortillas
1 cup shredded cheddar
optional: canned black beans, rinsed and drained
Preheat oven to 350. Place squash cut-side down on baking sheet (or just throw the cubes in there). Roast 45 minutes or until soft. Will take less time if you use the cubes. Cool until easy to handle. Scoop squash into bowl and mash. Add black beans if desired.
Heat oil in saucepan over medium high heat. Add onion and saute until soft. Add chipotle, adobo sauce, and garlic. Cook 1 minute.
Stir in mashed squash, cream cheese, and cumin. Cook 3 minutes more, or until heated through. Remove from heat and fold in green onions.
Spread 1 cup enchilada sauce over bottom of 13x9 baking dish. Warm tortillas to soften if necessary. Divide filling among tortillas and roll loosely and place into baking dish. Top with remaining enchilada sauce and cheddar cheese. Bake 30 minutes or until top begins to brown and sauce is bubbly.
posted by something something at 7:13 PM on September 9, 2010