Incredibly Easy Enchiladas

I love enchiladas.  I don’t make them near enough, because normally my kids don’t care for them so much.  But they are a great way to use up leftovers in a completely different way.  Pretty much anything can be rolled up into an enchilada!

So I thought I’d share my enchilada method today.  Not really a recipe, because you can totally customize this to taste, but I do have quantities were required.  This is a great recipe to adjust and tweak as you want, but this method is kid approved.  Of my two kids, Zander is the most picky about what he will eat and won’t eat, and this went down the hatch.  Abigail was fighting a cold so didn’t eat as much, but Zander ate it, despite his claims of the sauce being too spicy for his tongue.

The first thing though, is you need a batch of Corn Crepes.  These make the best enchilada shells- bar none.  I prefer corn tortillas when I make enchiladas- the problem with corn tortillas is that they don’t hold their shape at all, they split and crack and the individual enchiladas end up being a mutant form of casserole. (Meaning, my kids won’t eat it.) Flour tortillas work in a pinch, but they just aren’t as tender and thin as the crepes (and obviously missing that great corn flavor).  The corn crepe batter can be made ahead and stored in the fridge, and for that matter, you can make the crepes a day or two in advance- or longer, and freeze them until needed.

Next you need some filling.

For my filling, I used approximately two cups of leftover Pork Carnitas that I shredded up with a fork.  Really, any meat will work here, and beans will also work fabulous- either instead of or in addition to the meat.  Then I took about two cups of leftover cooked brown rice and mixed that with the pork.  I added 4 ounces of softened cream cheese and a dash of cumin, and then mixed it all together.  Add a splash of milk if the cream cheese is not cooperating.  Finally, I folded in about 1 1/2 cups of shredded cheese.

Finally, you need an enchilada sauce.  You can purchase this if you like, but it’s also really easy to make a quick one if you have canned tomatoes and salsa on hand.  I put a 28 ounce can of diced tomatoes in juice in the blender, along with 1/2 a cup of chunky salsa.  I added 1 tablespoon of cumin and a small dash of chili powder.  I blitzed this up, tasted, and then added a healthy pinch of salt and pepper.  Mine ended up just on the edge of too spicy for the kids, so adjust your salsa as necessary for the heat lovers.

Now it’s a simple matter of assembly- which can totally be done ahead.   Take a corn crepe, lay it on the counter and spoon a goodly amount of filling into it.  Now roll it up, leaving the ends wide open.  Continue with the process until all your crepes hold filling.

Take a 9 x 13 pan and spoon about 1/3 of your sauce into the pan.  Lay the rolled enchiladas into the sauce.  Pour the remaining sauce over the enchiladas and top with additional shredded cheese.

Cover with foil and bake at 350ºF for 30 minutes.  Remove the foil and bake an additional five minutes.  Remove from the oven and let sit for five minutes before serving.  Top each serving with sour cream and salsa if desired.  This process multiplies easily up and down to put together for a crowd, or servings for two.  Leftovers reheat great in the microwave.