Or, what to make when you feel like having it all together before your guests arrive.
Enchiladas are one of my favorite special occasion foods. We sometimes have enchiladas at Christmas. We have enchiladas to celebrate victories. Enchiladas are a go-to meal when we are having folks over for dinner. I think it’s safe to say that we are a pro-enchilada house. Among their many advantages, enchiladas are a great make-ahead meal. You can do all the prep well in advance (days in advance, if necessary), enjoy your day of jubilee, and then return home to pop the enchiladas in the oven.
Having said that, I don’t often make anything resembling traditional enchiladas. The idea is the same (stuffed tortillas with saucy-cheesy topping, baked until bubbly) but I started my enchilada craze with a kale and black bean filling thing. I then moved on to a white chili kind of version. I don’t often use the traditional red sauce topping. I’ve been thinking of doing a curry version, with chutney and yogurt.
This version is a hybrid of all my previous versions – the sauce is bound together with a jar of store-bought salsa verde in a nod to white chili, the black beans and greens are very present – but this time the outcome is vastly improved by cubes of delicious sweet potato for added ballast. The sweet potato/tomatillo-salsa-verde/black bean flavor combination is a revelation to me. In particular, the acidic tang of salsa verde with the sweetness of the sweet potato is really great here.
I softened the sweet potato in a skillet with the other filling ingredients, but next time, I would definitely microwave it until mostly cooked before adding to the mix. I always forget how long sweet potatoes take to soften, even in small cubes. If you’re interested, I think this is a good method for cooking the sweet potato in advance.
- 1 sweet potato, cubed
- 1 onion, diced
- 4-5 cloves of garlic, diced
- 1 jalapeño pepper, diced
- 1 bag baby kale or spinach
- 6 tortillas - which ever kind you like best
- 1 jar tomatillo salsa or salsa verde
- 1 cup of water
- 2 cups monterey jack cheese (or other melty cheese), grated
- 1 can of black beans, rinsed
- 1 can of pinto beans, rinsed
- olive oil
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- pinch of red pepper flakes
- salt & pepper
- Make the filling:
- Prep the veggies. (If you are going to microwave the sweet potato, now is the time). Cube the sweet potato, dice the onions, garlic, and jalapeño.
- Grate the cheese and rinse the beans.
- In a large skillet or medium sized pot, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat.
- Fry the onions until just starting to color. Add the garlic, jalapeño, and sweet potato cubes (if using raw sweet potato). Add the spices and stir to coat. Add the jar of salsa. Bring to a simmer and cover.
- If you are using a raw sweet potato, add the water with the salsa and cook until softened, stirring occasionally - about 25 minutes. If you are using a mostly (or completely) cooked sweet potato, stir everything together and simmer until the sauce is reduced - about 10 minutes. You might not need to add the water in this case. Use your judgement here - in both cases, you want an end product that is softened and not too saucy.
- Add the beans and stir, then the greens and stir again to wilt. Now your filling is done.
- Make the enchiladas:
- Cover the base of a baking dish with a couple of spoonfuls of filling mixture.
- Take a tortilla in your hand and add a small handful of grated cheese. Add a couple of spoonfuls of filling (see picture), wrap up the tortilla, and place seam side down in the baking dish. Repeat until all the space/tortillas are used.
- Spread leftover filling over the top of the enchiladas, and spread grated cheese over the top.
- At this point, you can cover the pan in foil and refrigerate for 2-3 days or freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to eat, bake the enchiladas at 375 F for about 30 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and everything is bubbling. (If baking from frozen, this will take longer - start with 50 minutes and check from there.)
- Serve with chopped cilantro and rice or salad.