Gastro 101: Vegetable enchiladas

by Gina Biber
- The Capitol Hill Times - 

A few weeks back, I asked my husband to grab some tortillas on his way home from work. I should have clarified that the recipe I was working on needed flour tortillas, as my sweet man came home with the corn variety.

I like corn tortillas just fine, but I don’t have much use for them in my normal rotation of meals, so they ended up occupying a space in my pantry. Recently, though, on another quest to make dinner without passing by the market (one can only eat so many brownies before needing a more substantial genre of food to snack on), I examined the contents of my cupboards and fridge (twice), rediscovered the corn tortillas, and came up with vegetable enchiladas.

Since then, I have tweaked the contents some, but as long as you make about 3 cups of stuffing, you can fill these enchiladas with whatever you like: different beans, vegetables, meats, cheeses, etc. The only required ingredient is corn tortillas.

Vegetable enchiladas. Gina Biber / The Capitol Hill Times.

Vegetable Enchiladas

Ingredients 

1 tablespoon and 2 teaspoons olive oil
1 cup corn
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 cup ricotta
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon limejuice
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
2 cloves garlic
4 grape tomatoes, diced
1/2 teaspoon chipotle powder
6-8 corn tortillas
1/2 cup feta cheese

Directions 

1. In a medium saucepan, heat 2 teaspoons olive oil.

2. Add onion and cook for 3-5 minutes until translucent.

3. Add corn, bell pepper and zucchini. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently, then turn off heat and set aside.

4. In a large bowl, whip ricotta, honey, limejuice and cilantro.

5. Add vegetable mix to ricotta mix, stir, then set aside.

6. In a medium saucepan, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil.

7. Add tomatoes and chipotle powder, then cook until tomatoes are soft.

8. Blend tomatoes into purée.

9. Pour half of tomato sauce in 8 by 5-inch baking dish, evenly coating bottom.

10. Assemble enchiladas by placing 1/2 cup of filling in the center of each corn tortilla, roll gently, then place seam-side down in baking dish and repeat.

11. Bake for 20 minutes at 375º F (190º C).