Not Quite Enchiladas
I may have mentioned it before: my husband is a ‘meat guy’. I pulled these suckers out of the oven and the first thing he says? “Are these vegan???” I was able to answer honestly “No”. Because…. cheese. Duh!
He was immediately skeptical and basically thought I had ruined dinner before he even sat down.
Don’t get me wrong, the man loves me and is VERY gracious whenever I cook. Most of the time he just teases me with how much I ‘sneak’ vegetables and grains into his diet when he’d be perfectly happy eating nothing but chicken wings for 43 meals straight. But he is often unconvinced a vegetarian dish won’t leave unsatisfied in some way.
It took two bites for him to apologize. Okay, what he really said was, “These are actually super good” but the two phrases are synonymous in my mind.
I wanted a dinner that took little to no preparation, minimal effort, and packed a good nutritious punch. This did not miss the mark!
Recipe for success:
1/2 C Quinoa
1/2 C Yellow Lentils
1 Packet Taco Seasoning
1 Can Black Beans
1 Can of diced tomatoes
1/2 Can Corn
1/2 C Shredded Cheese
1 - 5 Jalapeños (measure with your heart!)
1/2 Jar Salsa
6 - 10 Tortillas
Optional toppings: shredded lettuce, chopped cilantro, guacamole, sour cream
Directions:
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Cook your quinoa and lentils on the stove as the instructions on each packet say. Cook them together in the same pot! Add 1/2 the packet of Taco Seasoning to the water. Save the rest for the next step.
3. Dump all your cans and your desired spice level number of Jalapeños into a huge skillet over medium low heat (not your salsa!) Add the rest of the taco seasoning to this mixture and let it simmer while the quinoa and lentils cook.
4. Once the yummy and flavorful quinoa and lentils are done, toss the whole thing into your skillet with all your canned goods and stir away.
5. Wrap up your mixture into a sweet little tortilla wrap filling it up as much or as little as you want. You’ll just wrap the ends of the tortilla together and place that side down in an oven safe pan, lining them all up next to each other. If a little filling falls out the top and bottom, no worries, it'll still taste amazing on your plate.
6. Once all your tortillas are folded edges down next to each other like cozy little sleeping bags, top it all with your shredded cheese.
7. Bake for 5-7 minutes until the cheese is melted to perfection.
8. Plate those beautiful beasts, top them with your favorite salsa and enjoy the heck out of them!
Spoiler? He didn’t really miss the meat! That being said, these would also be VERY good with ground turkey, beef, or chicken. Try them all four ways and let me know which is your favorite.
You would make it virtually the same way, just cooking the meat in the skillet first, draining remaining fat, then adding all the canned foods and seasoning to simmer together. Everything else is exactly the same!
If you actually DO want to make them enchiladas, they would be amazing that way too. Dump your sauce over the top of the tortillas before baking! I didn’t have any on hand, so naturally, they were not quite enchiladas.
PS: These make pretty bomb leftovers, so make enough to meal prep your lunch for tomorrow.
You’re welcome! ;)
