Enchiladas
Enchiladas were a food I'd always heard about but never tried. When I finally found a recipe, and all the ingredients looked good, I was sure I'd enjoy them.
Once again, I use ground turkey as the meat, but I am sure they'd be fantastic with ground beef. Check out the notes at the bottom to read about making this meatless. I like to serve this meal with Spanish Rice and whole kernel corn. Serving with rice ensures complete protein, even without the meat. |
Ingredients:
1 package (16 to 20 ounces) lean ground turkey (I use 93% lean)
1 can (drained) red or kidney beans - or whatever you like
1 16 ounce jar Pace Picante Sauce (or any medium or higher salsa)*
1 onion, chopped
Chili powder- or a packet of taco or enchilada seasoning
2 cups shredded cheese (I use the "Mexican Blend" cheese) 2 cups is 8 ounces.
12 Corn or Flour tortillas - heat them as you go
Directions:
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Cook the ground turkey and onion in a 10-inch skillet over medium high heat until well browned. Pour off any fat. Add a bit of chili powder or taco seasoning, if desired. Stir in the drained beans and reheat. Stir in 1/2 cup sauce and 1/2 to 1 cup cheese.
- Spread 1/2 or less cup sauce in 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking dish.
- Spoon about 2 tablespoons of meat mixture down center of each tortilla. (This will be more than two tablespoons if you've added beans into the recipe.) Roll up and place seam-side down in prepared dish. Top with remaining sauce and cheese. If you want to roll these up "egg roll style" and fold the edges in, you get a nice "bready" texture that is more like a burrito.
- Bake for 30 minutes until the cheese melts. Makes 10 to 12 enchiladas.
I tried this with the corn tortillas, and they really tasted too "sour" to me. I stick with the flour tortillas. I also heat the tortillas quickly on my favorite grilled-cheese griddle to soften them and make the rolling a whole lot easier.
When you're making the tortillas, a smallish ice cream scoop (I happened to have one that was two tablespoons) makes portioning easier. Two tablespoons doesn't seem like a lot when you're putting it on the tortilla, but it's really plenty.
I've now tried this recipe with diced chicken, and it was good. I like the ground meat texture much better, however. Some day, I want to try this meatless - using maybe just onions and peppers as the filling instead of meat. I love serving this recipe along with Spanish Rice!
Update!!! I have now made this a meatless dish by substituting 2 drained cans of red beans (or one larger can) for the meat. It works well, has a nice hearty texture, and supplies that protein that send you away from the table feeling like you've eaten. Serve these with Spanish Rice, and you've got complete protein, even without the meat!