Veg*n Cooking and Other Random Musings: Anasazi Bean Enchiladas with Green Chile Sauce

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Anasazi Bean Enchiladas with Green Chile Sauce

We have yet another winner!

I've been thinking that I may, at some point, write a Mexican/Southwestern veg*n cookbook, it just seems to be my thing. Not to mention, most authentic Mexican food is very un-veg*n, and also very unhealthy, which it doesn't have to be. If I end up doing this at some point in the future, I will probably use a lot of the recipes I've posted here, what you all see is my 'rough draft' of a recipe, I perfect my recipes more with each consecutive attempt. I will also have to work on measuring my spices and tracking my cooking time. Anyways, I have so many ideas, and I haven't seen a wealth of cookbooks that center around the style of food I prefer, so we'll see. I just hope I'm not crazy to think my food is good!

Lindsay (the Happy Herbivore) and I have also been tossing ideas around for a book we could do together, so far it's just ideas, but they seem to have a lot of potential. We'll see how that goes.

But anyways....
This meal was not nearly as involved as the last meal I posted about. This took about an hour to make, 30 minutes of which was spent sitting on my bum, as the enchiladas were baking in the oven.

Note: This is not Green Sauce, this is Green Chile sauce – there is a difference. This sauce, for one, is not green, it is brownish-red. Why? Well there is tomato in it. The sauce can be used in similar applications as Green Sauce such as enchiladas, tacos, tostadas, burritos or burros, quesadillas, etc. It can also be used in place of other salsas. When I spend lots of time in the kitchen making something authentic, I like to make extra sauce so that I can freeze it, and have a quick meal in the future. This time, I did not freeze it, as it lasts about 3+ weeks in the fridge as is (and it will definitely get used), but next time, I will freeze it.

You can also use kidney beans in place of the Anasazi beans here - it would still be tasty!















Green Chile Sauce:
1/4 yellow onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 small tomato, chopped
a few tablespoons water
8 Anaheim peppers, seeded, roasted and sliced
2 jalapenos, seeded, roasted and sliced
2 cups veggie broth
ground cumin
chili powder
1-2 tbsp dried cilantro
2 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 3 tablespoons water

Heat water in a small sauce pan. Add onion and garlic and cook for five minutes. Add the tomato and cook for another five minutes.

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until smooth.
Put back in the sauce pan and bring to a boil. Add the cornstarch and water mixture and stir frequently until slightly thickened. Remove from heat.

Makes 2-3 cups.

Anasazi Bean Enchiladas with Green Chile Sauce:
2 cups anasazi beans, cooked
1/4 red onion, diced
1 serrano pepper, seeded and minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can diced green chilies, drained
1 cup no salt added tomato sauce
cumin
chili powder
ground coriander
Mexican oregano
salt

8 corn tortillas
Green Chile Sauce
1 tbsp dried cilantro
guacamole

Preheat oven to 350.

Heat a few tablespoons of water in a medium skillet. Add the onion, garlic and serrano and cook until soft, about ten minutes.

Add beans, chilies, tomato sauce and spices to the pan and simmer for about ten minutes.

Coat the bottom of an oven safe dish (such as a casserole dish) with green chile sauce.

Spoon a small amount of the bean mixture into warmed corn tortillas. Roll up and place in the baking dish. Spoon some green chile sauce over the top of the enchiladas. Top with some dried cilantro.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, until sauce is bubbly and the tortillas have crisped.

Serve with guacamole.

Yum!

'Til next time!

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

You must come over and teach me how to make enchiladas! I've never made them and I fear I will fail miserably. (Or you could just send some my way, hehe). Again, you are the Mexican Queen!!

Lizzy said...

wowowowow! I want to come visit you, design the layout for your cookbook (which I'd definitely buy so go ahead and start it right now =D) and get paid in food like THIS! It sounds and looks delicious. I don't know what the problem is, but somehow I'm a little afraid to try making mexican food myself..

Anonymous said...

Can't wait to try this one! My fiancee is gonna love you!

Anonymous said...

It's so easy to move to wordpress! They have a feature that allows you to transfer all of your entries / comments with the click of a button. It was fantastic.

Unknown said...

Your Mexican food is so cool. You should write a book (why not an eBook?) I think it would be a hit.

MeloMeals said...

Delicious! I LOVE spicy mexican food...

Alicia said...

Anasazi beans? where do you find these?! I can't even find jalapeños or any other pepper!
Lindsay and you can count on my support if you write a cookbook together!

Lindsay (Happy Herbivore) said...

I have never been so jealous of Brett. I want you to move in and cook Mexi for me eVERY night.

ChocolateCoveredVegan said...

DEFINITELY write a cookbook! I will buy it!!!

T said...

Those look so awesome!

Anonymous said...

those enchiladas are SEXY. Yes, mexican food is very sexy to me :D:D:D

Bianca said...

Oh yea! Please write a cookbook! I've never seen a vegan cookbook devoted solely to Mexican cooking.

Imagine if all us bloggers start publishing cookbooks. We could take over the culinary world! It would be awesome!

Anonymous said...

Yay, my husband and I were JUST talking about how we needed to find a good vegan enchilada recipe! Thanks!

How spicy would you say this turns out? I have a 4-year-old, and he's into a little bit of spice, but not too much. Would you suggest any adjustments?

Anonymous said...

I got my URL wrong on the last comment-- oops!

Kumquat Peekapoo said...

I think I'll be making this for dinner tomorrow night. It looks incredible. And hooray for you for starting a cookbook! I look forward to it!

J said...

Romina - I would definitely show you how to make enchiladas if I lived near you. Trust me though, it isn't that hard. I wish I had a video camera, I could have Brett film me making it for informational purposes.

Lizzy - I LOVE that idea! Don't be afraid, once you start making it at home, you'll be so glad you did.

Ve*ganChick - :-) I hope you guys like it.

Cookiemouse - eBook's are a great idea, I could even make them a lot cheaper if not free (by doing it myself). Good idea. Thanks! :-)

Melody - Thanks, me too!

Alice - I purchased them online from a small family farm here in the US (http://www.purcellmountainfarms.com/Organic%20Anasazi%20Beans.htm), I can also get them from a co-op called Blue Planet. You may have to look online, but likely there is a European producer.

You can't even find peppers?!?!?! You must grow them! If you have a porch that will do. If you decide you want to do that, email me if you need any tips or suggestions!

Happy Herbivore - If I ever move to California, I have a feeling that would happen on a regular basis. And if you ever wanted to move to Missouri...... :-)

Chocolate Covered - Aw, you are too sweet!

T - Thanks!

Bean_Mix - I agree, Mexican food can be VERY sexy, when there is fire hot salsa dripping down the side of a lovely bean filled burrito..... :-)

Bianca - Thank you so much! I haven't seen one either, and it seems to be what I enjoy doing most, so I may at some point. Not a huge fan of the idea of corporate, big box publication though, I'd probably go with an independent publisher or self publish. Perhaps as Cookiemouse suggested above, make an eBook that could be almost free!

Christina - These were far less spicy than much of the other stuff I make. But for the sake of cooking for little kidlets, I would suggest leaving the serrano pepper out of the bean mixture, and perhaps not serving the Green Chile Sauce to the little one. I don't think leaving the canned green chilies in there would be a problem, especially if he likes a bit of spice. It doesn't seem spicy to me, but I'm a freak. They would still be super tasty if you took the serrano out and just served it with guac, and probably far more suitable for children. :-) Let me know if you have any other questions, and feel free to email me.

Kumquat - Ooooh! I hope you like them!

Thanks so much! who know when it'll get started, let alone finished, but the idea is out there.

Bianca said...

Tag! You're it! I'm tagging you to name five things about yourself that others may not know.

In the post, link back to my blog, and tag five others (also linking to their blogs).

Sorry if you've done this one before!

Jess said...

Yowza! That looks amazing!