Veg*n Cooking and Other Random Musings: Black Bean and Asparagus Enchiladas with Green Enchilada Sauce

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Black Bean and Asparagus Enchiladas with Green Enchilada Sauce

This recipe is dedicated to the Vegan Cow Girl.
Her love for all things asparagus inspired me to try to come up with a way to use it in a Mexican inspired dish.

I have to be completely honest with you, both Brett and I were a little skeptical at first, but these turned out really good. I cleaned my plate and Brett ate so much he almost made himself sick.

And I must state for the record, roasted asparagus seriously rocks. Seriously. :-)















Green Enchilada Sauce

Makes enough for a large dish of enchiladas.

1 lb tomatillos, husked and cored
1 cup cold water
1/4 cup veggie broth
4 serrano peppers, seeded and minced
1 habanero, seeded and minced
1/2 yellow onion, minced
3 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 cup of cilantro, washed and shredded
juice of one lime
cinnamon
dash nutmeg
dash cocoa powder
cumin
paprika
dash white pepper
salt
1 tbsp good canola oil

Soak husked and cleaned tomatillos in cold water to 10-15 minutes.

While tomatillos are soaking, heat a few tablespoons of water in a small skillet. Add the peppers and onion and cook until soft, about 10 minutes.

Blend tomatillos and water in a food processor.

Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until very smooth.

Place sauce in a pan and simmer, covered for about 40 minutes.

Refrigerate for at least an hour to allow flavors to blend.

This sauce should last in the fridge about 2 weeks, it also freezes well.















The enchilada filling. So very good. I took the leftover filling into work the next day and ate it by itself for lunch! It was really good.















Black Bean and Asparagus Enchiladas

1 cup black beans, cooked
1 bunch of asparagus, woody ends discarded, roasted and sliced into bite sized pieces
2 small zucchini, roasted and sliced
1/2 bell pepper, roasted and sliced
1 poblano, roasted and sliced
1/4 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 serrano peppers, seeded and minced
cumin
chipotle chili powder
Mexican oregano
paprika
salt

vegan jack (optional)
Green Enchilada Sauce
corn tortillas (we used white corn)
sliced black olives

When veggies are done roasting, reduce oven heat to 350.

Heat a few tablespoons of water in a small skillet. Add the onion, garlic and serrano peppers. Cook for about 10 minutes or until soft. Combine all the filling ingredients in a bowl and season to taste.

Spread enchilada sauce in the bottom of a baking dish.

Layer filling and a little bit of vegan jack (if desired) in warmed corn tortillas. Roll up and place in the pan. Top with a little more enchilada sauce.

Bake, uncovered for 30-35 minutes or until everything is bubbly and tortillas are getting crisp.

Top with olives and bake for another 2-3 minutes.

Let cool for a few minutes before serving.

Serve with guacamole.

Yum!

So, a bit of sad garden news to end this post. I did some research, and it looks like we started our pepper seeds a bit late this year. This means we are going to start picking up starts over the course of this week to transplant into pots this weekend. We did, however, learn a lot, and will know to start them much sooner next year. We are going to keep the New Mexican Chile start going, as they seem to be taking off and I've never seen a start of this pepper. We're hoping to at least get one or two peppers off of it so we can save their seeds.

Anyways.... I'll leave you with a couple of cute kitty pictures.















We've created a monster. Brett thought it was cute that Nermal was getting interested in the sink one day not too long ago. She then discovered that she could drink the running water out of the sink. Now she will only drink the running water out of the sink. And she demands it, by loudly and constantly meowing when she's thirsty. I don't think she's drank out of her water bowl for a month. Let's just say it used to be cute and now we're stuck doing it! :-)















Gabby never misses an opportunity to get in a bag.

'Til next time!

18 comments:

Lizzy said...

Aww, ha ha! Nermal is too funny, I laughed out so loud when I read that =p
And Gabby in the bag, adorable!

Once again, your enchiladas look fabulous! I love the filling <3
Did you ever think of selling your sauce in jars? I'd happily buy tons of it so I wouldn't say no to mexican cooking because of the missing sauce ;)

Too bad about your peppers, but I'm sure you'll get at least one and if not you'll have a huge variation of other self grown goods to rely on. That's jealousy speaking out of me because I wish I had a balcony with pots of vegetables =p

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

Sorry about the peppers :0( But hey, look at the delicious meals! Yum! Glad that they changed your skepticism :0D

Haha!! Love the photographs of Nermal and Gabby :0)

Alicia said...

I love asparagus, I can't get enough. Well, I DO get enough because the season is so short and I eat to many of them, hehe.

Sorry about the peppers, but just go on with them and you might get surprised...

Anonymous said...

I have to say, never in a million years would I have thought to incorporate asparagus into a Mexican dish. Those pictures look awfully good, though. I may just have to try it!

Rural Vegan said...

I adore fresh asparagus and putting them into an enchilada sounds heavenly! Your cats are adorable too!

Bianca said...

Roasted asparagus does rock! And my dog does the same thing with the drink out of the sink thing.

He's a big dog, and he jumps up on the sink with his two front paws and licks until I turn it on...he won't drink out of a regular bowl now. Fresh water just tastes better.

ChocolateCoveredVegan said...

Yum yum yum! I’m with vegan cowgirl in loving asparagus!
Haha, but wait… I thought cats were supposed to hate water!

Anonymous said...

Oh My...that filling looks so good! I may just make that and eat it as is! Yum!

Courtney

Lisa (Show Me Vegan) said...

It was fun to see your kitties! My Scout has been surprisingly difficult to photograph for the blog; she's in constant motion which kinda interferes.

cj said...

Asparagus and enchiladas--I'll have to try that; I always want to cook it but get tired of the same ol' asparagus pasta toss I do. And I love that your cat's name is Nermal!

Anonymous said...

Food looks great as always. I love asparagus! I have tried it roasted before, but it's been a while. I seem to be going crazy with my grill pan. haha. I'm going to pick up a few recipes to make enchiladas. Been holding it off for too long. The husband is getting impatient. I told him about a week ago that I found him a vegan enchilada recipe, his exact words were, "yes! Finally! It's been 3 years!" It has been 3 years ever since I promised him I'd make it.

My black cat, Shabazz, does the EXACT same thing as Nermal! She wants nothing but the kitchen sink water. Sometimes she wouldn't let you brush your teeth. It is quite annoying, but so cute! I've learned to just ignore her because the water here is high in ammonia and chlorine. Miss Dottie on the other hand, PLAYS with the water. Too cute! you can actually see her "hands" curl as she tries to "pick" up a drop of water.

Anonymous said...

I mean bathroom sink oops! :-D

jessy said...

omg, omg, omg! asparagus in enchiladas - brilliant! i love it! and i'm totally gonna try that! your sauces always look so amazing, Jennifer!

also - i love the kitty pics! we've got 4 cats - and they're always in to stuff as well. cracks me up with all the cuteness go'n on! and you've got some adorable kitties!

J said...

Lizzy - All cats seem to have a personality all their own, don't they? Gabby really has a thing for bags and boxes, even ones she can't fit in.

Thanks so much!

Brett has told me I should sell my sauces as well. Gotta tell you, I'm a cook not a businesswoman, I don't have the stomach for it. If someone else wanted to do all the 'icky stuff' (marketing, promotional stuff, sales), while I just did the cooking, that would be a different story.

I'm just happy it's not too late to get starts of the peppers, that way I can still grow my own!

:-(

Veggie Girl - Kitties are fun, aren't they?

Alice - Me too, asparagus rocks. I picked up some more this week so I can try to 'Mexicanize' it again. :-)

We kept a could of the starts in hopes that they'll grow. We're going to be picking up some starts tonight for the other peppers.

Ve*ganChick - We weren't really too sure if would work either, it was an experiment to say the least, and I was surprised how well they worked in the dish. You should try it! We can come up with all sorts of crazy vegan Mexican fusion cuisine.

Rural Vegan - Asparagus is one of my favorite things about spring!

Thanks, the cats are pretty cute sometimes.

Bianca - Glad you agree.

That is too funny! I'm just trying to picture this huge dog trying to drink out of the sink. :-)

I think you're right, thats why, although it's annoying sometimes, we still give it to her, because fresh water is better.

Chocolate Covered - Asparagus is a beautiful food. I could roast and entire bunch and just eat it plain.

I DID TOO! :-)

Courtney - I was wonderful as is. I bet if you served it over rice it would make a great meal.

Lisa - They are really cute sometimes, so I thought I'd share. Hahahaha! Sometimes Gabby is just too spastic to get a picture of her - well something that is beyond a blur as she's zooming by. I hope you get a picture of Scout eventually!

Callina - It was surprisingly really good.

Ooooh, I'm intrigued by your asparagus pasta toss.

Garfield was my favorite comic when I was a kid, so when I got a grey cat, I just had to name her Nermal.

Leng - Thanks! Roasted asparagus is so easy and so good. Just a bit of oil and garlic, and mmmmm, it's perfect all by itself.

Yay! I can't wait to see your enchiladas. 3 years is far too long!! I bet enchiladas will make Long happy!

Shebazz and Nermal must be related. NERMAL DOES THAT TOO. I'm trying to get water on my toothbrush and she won't allow it!

Miss Dottie plays with it?! How cute! Nermal will paw at it sometimes when she is done drinking but isn't ready for the water to be turned off. Aw! That is funny!

Jessy - I'm one of those people who will try to 'Mexicanize' anything, I'm just obsessed like that.

Thank you so much.

4 cats?! How fun. Some of the stuff they do is so funny and so cute. I love it when they get spastic. :-)

I'd love to see pictures of your critters as well.

ChocolateCoveredVegan said...

Ok, so I was at a party last night, and one of my friends told me, “I’d be a vegetarian, but I just can’t give up Mexican food.” Well, I told her she had to go straight to your blog! ;o)

J said...

You are too sweet. :-)

Erin said...

You make the most amazing looking Mexican food. Green enchilada sauce! Tomatillos intimidate me for some reason. Nermal is the best cat name I've heard in a long time, and I know what you mean about the cute cat things grating on your patience.

dormitorio de matrimonio said...

It will not succeed in reality, that's exactly what I think.