Quinoa White Bean and Spinach Enchiladas

I’ve recently been doing a lot of experimenting with making enchiladas out of whatever’s in the fridge.  A couple of weeks ago we had enchiladas made of left-over lentil loaf with chipotle sauce,  last week we had a tasty version with mushrooms and cranberry beans, and now we’ve hit on the big winner – quinoa, white beans, and spinach.  I love this mix of ingredients, and the final dish is delicious.

One of the things I like about making enchiladas is that they’re versatile and you can make use of odds and ends; a half an onion, a few random potatoes, half a can of tomato paste.  They can be prepared in advance and baked when ready.  AND, as it turns out, enchiladas can actually be a food that you feel good AFTER eating, and they don’t need to be covered in cheese. *

One of the key strategies I employ in the kitchen is making extra.  If I’m making brown rice, quinoa, or any other grain, I always cook a cup or so extra.  That way I can add grains to my fruit salad for breakfast, bulk up a salad, or add texture to a soup.  I do the same with dried beans – soaking some over night even if I don’t have a particular plan for them,  reserving some of the cooked beans for hummus, soup, salad, etc.  Little actions like this go a long way towards making whole, unprocessed foods more accessible so that a mean meal can be whipped up on the fly in case of a hunger emergency.  Cooking in such a way, a meal like these enchiladas pulls together quite easily, even for those of us who “don’t have time to cook healthily.”    

FILLING INGREDIENTS  

This is more of a strategy and encouragement for you to get creative with what you have on hand – so by all means get crazy with substitutions!   Everything is optional.  That said, I’ll tell you what went into these…  

• 1 yellow onion – medium dice
• 6-8 oz mixed mushrooms – sliced
• 2 cups cooked white beans
• 2 cups cooked quinoa
• 2-3 tomatoes – coarsely chopped
• A whole bunch of fresh baby spinach – coarsely chopped
• Seasoning:  cumin, coriander, salt, cayenne pepper  

FILLING METHOD  

• Sweat the onions and mushrooms on medium/low heat with a pinch of salt and a splash of water until onions are soft and the mushrooms have released a lot of their liquid.
• Add the spices to taste, starting with a teaspoon or so of each, and adding more as necessary. Sauté for another minute or two, until spices are fragrant.
• Add the tomatoes, beans, and quinoa and bring everything up to a nice simmer.  No need to cook them for a long time, but it’s nice to bring it all to temperature so that the flavors begin to meld.  Taste and adjust seasoning. Remove from heat.
• Once the pan is off the heat, fold in the spinach.  It will wilt with the heat of the sauce, and will wilt further in the oven, so do your best to avoid over-cooking it at this stage.
• Now you’ll make your sauce…

SAUCE  

SUPER EASY SAUCE:

• One 28 oz can of italian plum tomatoes
• One can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce  
• Puree the two together, and that’s it!    

SLIGHTLY MORE INVOLVED SAUCE

• 1 yellow onion – small dice
• 2-3 cloves garlic – minced
• 1/2 – 1 jalapeño – small dice
• 1 can tomatoes – crushed, fire roasted, cherry…use your favourite  
• Sweat the onion, garlic and jalapeño with a bit of oil and a pinch of salt – Add the tomatoes and any additional seasoning – Taste and adjust seasoning – Puree if you wish or serve chunky.  

ASSEMBLY METHOD

• Spoon a cup of the enchilada sauce into the bottom of your baking dish.
• Dip each tortilla in the sauce, fill with filling, roll and place in pan
• Bake at 350 until heated through
• Enjoy!

* An interesting bit of info:  The Harvard School of Public Health has finally come out and said that milk/dairy is not part of a healthy diet.  It’s time to call into question all of the brain washing we underwent as children in primary school when we learned about how good milk was for us.  All of that “education” is paid for with billions of marketing dollars from the milk and diary industry.  Just sayin.  You can check out the Harvard article here.