New Recipes Vegetarian Enchiladas

These easy-to-make enchiladas are filled with beans, spinach and cheese. Serve them with rice on the side.
Directions for: Vegetarian Enchiladas

Ingredients

Sauce

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

small onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tsp ancho chile powder

1 tsp ground cumin

Large pinch cayenne pepper

(15-oz) can tomato puree

Kosher salt

Filling and Topping

1 (10-oz) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed

1 (15-oz) can pinto beans, strained and rinsed

4 oz shredded Cheddar (about 1 1/2 cups)

4 oz shredded pepper Jack cheese (about 1 1/2 cups)

cup sour cream

3 scallions, sliced

Kosher salt

12 (6-inch) corn or flour tortillas

Juice of 1/2 a lime

Directions

Sauce

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.

2. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions, and cook, stirring frequently, until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, chile powder, cumin and cayenne, and continue to cook, stirring, until the spices are toasted, about 1 minute. Add 2 cups water, the tomato puree and 1/2 teaspoon salt, and bring to a simmer. Continue cooking until the sauce reduces and thickens slightly (it should be looser and thinner than marinara sauce), 15 to 20 minutes. Set aside to cool slightly.

Filling and Topping

1. Squeeze all the excess moisture out of the spinach. Put it into a large bowl with the pinto beans, and squeeze with your hands to combine and smash up the beans a little. Add half of both the Cheddar and the pepper Jack, half of both the sour cream and the scallions and 1 1/4 teaspoons salt, and stir to combine.

2. Spread about 1/2 cup of the tomato sauce in the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Lay the tortillas out on a work surface, and spread 1 side of each with about 1 teaspoon of tomato sauce. Put about 1/4 cup of the filling across the middle of each tortilla. Roll each up, then shingle them in 2 even rows in the baking dish. Pour the remaining sauce over the top of the rolled tortillas, and sprinkle with the remaining cheeses. Cover the baking dish loosely with foil, and bake until the cheeses are melted and the filling is hot, about 30 minutes. Uncover, and continue baking to heat completely through, about 10 minutes more.

3. For the topping: Whisk together the remaining sour cream, the lime juice and a pinch of salt in a small bowl. Drizzle the mixture over the baked enchiladas, and sprinkle with the remaining scallions.