Holy Frijoles

a health update and enchilada casserole

moody enchilada bake

Hey Broiler Heads! Well, my taste is slowly coming back from my stint with COVID, which is making every meal an adventure. Will this dish taste like it should or will I sit broken hearted in front of another plate of food? I threw together some scones loosely based on the recipe in our first book and thought for a second I had forgotten sugar because they just tasted like biscuits with a hint of fruit. Sigh. While I can taste more and more things every day, I still don’t trust myself to get back into the kitchen and develop a new recipe just yet. So this week I’m sharing a tweaked version of a recipe that first appeared in our second book, Party Grub.

me with every bite

This enchilada casserole was something I made a bazillion times in my 20’s and sorta forgot about after it appeared in Party Grub. I brought it to potlucks, BBQs, anywhere I thought people might be picky eaters and it was a hit every.single.time. The recipe itself is straightforward and you can mix up the layers based on what you like. Most of the ingredients are things I keep stocked making this recipe perfect for when you don’t want to go to the store another fucking day this week. I think a lot of y’all overlooked this recipe in the book because it didn’t have a picture. Story as old as time. I try to keep a running list in my head of all the recipes from our books that I see you guys post online and I don’t think anyone has ever cooked this hidden gem. TODAY WE CHANGE THAT. 

Enchilada Casserole with Black Beans and Pumpkin

Makes enough for 4-6 people with leftovers

ENCHILADA-ISH SAUCE

1 1⁄ 2 cups vegetable broth

1 1⁄ 2 cups plain tomato sauce*

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 tablespoons mild chili powder

2 tablespoons lime juice

1 tablespoon soy sauce or tamari

1⁄ 2 teaspoon ground cumin

1⁄ 2 teaspoon dried oregano

FILLING

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, chopped (the size of black beans)

1 red bell pepper, chopped (the size of black beans)

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 jalapeño, minced

3 cups cooked black beans**

1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels

2 teaspoons chili powder

½ teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon smoked paprika

½ teaspoon salt

1 ½ cups canned pumpkin or sweet potato puree***

1 tablespoon lime juice

2 teaspoons maple syrup or agave syrup

12 flour tortillas or whatever you usually buy for burritos

Salsa

Avocado

Cilantro 

Watermelon radish

First, make the enchilada-ish sauce: Pour everything together in a medium saucepan and bring it to a gentle simmer——not a boil, a goddamn SIMMER——and cook for about 15 minutes to give the sauce a chance to thicken up a little. Turn off the heat and get to making the filling. You should have about 2 ½ cups.

Make the filling: In a large skillet or wok, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until it starts to get golden, about 5 minutes. Add the bell pepper and keep cooking for about 2 minutes. Add the garlic, jalapeño, black beans, and corn. Stir that all up and let everything in the pan warm back up, about 2 minutes. Add the chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, and salt and keep cooking until the spices get all warm and start making your kitchen smell legit, about 1 minute. Fold in the pumpkin, lime juice, and maple syrup and cook for another minute so the pumpkin gets mixed up and warm. Turn off the heat.

Heat up your oven to 375°F. Grab an 9 x 13-inch baking dish.

Now it’s time to assemble this beast. Pour about  ¾ cup of the enchilada-ish sauce all over the bottom of the baking dish. Cover that up with a single layer of tortillas. Yeah there will be some holes but just do your fucking best. Smear on a layer of the filling and try to keep that shit at an even thickness so you don’t have a lopsided dish. Cover that with another layer of tortillas and ½ cup sauce. Repeat. Cover with the remaining sauce.

Cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes. Uncover it and bake for 10 more. Serve warm with some salsa and avocado on the side.

* Not marinara, just canned, no-seasoning tomato sauce.

** You can use two 15-ounces cans of beans, drained and rinsed, because we know you are about the dump-and-stir life.

*** Don’t accidently grab pumpkin pie filling at the store and think that shit will still work because it fucking won’t.

tried to capture the layers

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Thanks to all of you for your kind words of encouragement as I slowly start to get better. It means a lot and I swear I’m gonna blow your fucking socks off with some new recipes as soon as I can.

Michelle (and Matt)