Recipe: Quinoa Enchiladas

We call these "air enchiladas" in our house because they're so light but they are filling and they hit the spot every time. 


Ingredients: 
¾ cup uncooked quinoa 
1 Tbsp of oil* (I use olive oil most of the time) 
1/2 cup chopped onion* 
1 ½ cup vegetable broth or water 
1 cup frozen corn* 
1/2 cup sliced olives* 
1 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese* 
1-2 cans of enchilada mix depending on how saucy you want them 
4-6 8-inch tortillas (or bigger if you’re using a bigger pan) 

*These are guesses on how much I use. I cook by handfuls, dumps, pinches and shakes. We love olives, onions and cheese so I’m a bit heavy handed with these too. You figure out what you like. 

Directions: 


Enchilada contents 
1. Put the uncooked quinoa in a pot and warm it on medium-high heat until it starts to snap and becomes fragrant, probably around 5 minutes or so. Dump it into a fine sieve and rinse in tap water. Set it aside. 
2. Heat the oil in the same pot you were just using (no worries if there’s some quinoa pieces in there) over medium heat. Stir in 1/3 cup of the onions and sauté until lightly browned. 
3. Add the drained quinoa to the pot with the onions and add the vegetable broth (I use water and “Better than Bouillon” which I always have on hand, you could use any broth or even just water but I like the richness of the broth flavoring). Bring the mixture to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 20 minutes. 
4. Stir frozen corn into the saucepan and continue to simmer for about 5 more minutes until everything is heated through and the moisture is absorbed. The quinoa shouldn’t be dry but also shouldn’t be saucy. 
5. Add in 1/3 cup of the olives and 1 cup of the cheddar. Stir until everything is mixed in. 


Enchilada sauce 
6. Warm the can(s) of sauce on medium-low heat. If you’re using a powder mix, prepare it per the instructions. An alternative, if you find the sauces to be too salty is to mix one can of enchilada sauce with 1 can of tomato sauce 


Enchilada prep 
7. Preheat oven to 350° 
8. Pour some of the enchilada sauce into your quinoa mixture. I usually dump around 1/3 of a cup I think. It makes it all a bit gooey which is how I like my enchiladas. 
9. Pour about ¼ of what remains into the bottom of an 8x8 baking pan. I use glass, not sure if it matters. 
10. Warm a tortilla in a nonstick skillet over low heat until it becomes pliable. 
11. Spoon some of the quinoa mixture onto the tortilla (I fill them up pretty fat). Roll the tortilla and place it at one end in the baking dish. 
12. Repeat steps 9 & 10 until you have filled your baking dish 
13. Pour the rest of the enchilada sauce over the top taking care to cover everything. 
14. Sprinkle the remaining cheese, onions and olives over the top 
15. Bake for 15 minutes and serve hot. 


Depending on how full I fill up each tortilla, this can also make enough filling to stretch it into 2 pans which means I prep another one and tuck it into the freezer. I can feed the family twice on one 8x8 pan and it's really good left over according to the hubs.



Thank you for reading,
Julie


Other posts you might be interested in: Pizza Sunday

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