Veggie Enchiladas

We celebrated Back to School eve with dinner at Rudy and Angie's, our favorite Mexican restaurant. Although it's not on the menu, they made me some vegetable enchiladas and they were so good I couldn't stop thinking about them . . . so I attempted to create my own version--which came out pretty yummy as well.

Veggie Enchiladas
Lots of veggies and refried beans wrapped in tortillas and smothered in sauce. One of the ultimates in Mexican comfort food. This makes a nice big batch, which is great because they taste great the second day too. You don’t need to be too fussy in dicing the vegetables. They just need to be in bite-sized pieces, small enough that they will roll up in the tortilla. If your in a hurry, use prepared enchilada sauce rather than making it yourself.

Enchilada Sauce:

Olive oil
1 small onion, minced
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
Salt, to taste
Hot Pepper Sauce, to taste

Filling:

Olive oil
1 red onion, coarsely chopped
10 white mushrooms, quartered
1 large red bell pepper, seeded and coarsely chopped
2 carrots, cut into half moons
2 cups chopped broccoli or cauliflower
Kernels cut from 1 ear of corn or 3/4 cup frozen corn kernels
Salt
Black pepper
Hot Pepper Sauce

The rest:

12 corn tortillas
1 (16-ounce) can refried beans
2 cups Enchilada Sauce (page xx)
1/2 – 1 cup shredded Jack-style dairy or vegan cheese (optional)

Prepare Sauce as follows: Place a small pan over low heat with just enough oil to coat the bottom. Add onion and sauté 5 minutes, or until soft. Stir in chili powder, cumin, oregano, and garlic. Sauté 1 minute. Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Add the onions and sauté a couple of minutes. Add the remaining vegetables and stir together. Cover and cook about 5 minutes—just until vegetables are bright in color and slightly tender--uou want them to be crisp. Remove from heat. Sprinkle with salt, black pepper, and Hot Pepper Sauce to taste.
Set up your assembly area with the tortillas, beans, and vegetable mixture and a 9 x 13-inch baking pan. Pour a little of the Enchilada Sauce into the pan—just enough to spread a thin layer across the bottom. Working with one tortilla at a time, spread a couple of tablespoons of the refried beans down the middle of the tortilla. Then spoon the vegetable mixture over the filling—enough so it will fill the rolled tortilla but not so much that you can’t roll it. Roll the tortilla tightly around the filling and place it seam side down in the pan. Corn tortillas can be delicate so don’t worry if they crack. Just kind of push them together in the pan. Continue until the pan is full. I usually do 8 tortillas placed horizontally down the length and then place the last four 2 and 2 vertically along side them. If you have any beans or filling left, just spread them over the enchiladas. Pour the remaining sauce over the enchiladas, spreading to make sure they are completely covered. Sprinkle cheese evenly over all, if using. Cover with foil and bake 15 minutes. Remove foil and bake 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Serves 6-8