Enfrijoladas

This is another chain recipe found via foodgawker.  This comes to us via Cate's World Kitchen which is a new blog that I am quite enjoying lately as Cate enjoys to cook, eat, travel and run. Three of those things I am an avid fan of and do whenever I have the chance. One of those things I am just starting out on, but I hear it gets addictive so we'll see.  The below is Cate's variation on the recipe she found over on Herbivoracious. The little cartoon men are super cute on that site, and I am all about adding more vegetarian meals to my repertoire, but if I mentioned that to Wil I think I would have him running and screaming right into the arms of a cheeseburger. So I'm pitching this as a Mexican meal, and as long as he isn't hovering over me in the kitchen we'll see if he notices.

Wil's plate, as intended with a little extra cheese on top

I chose this dish mainly because of the name. I am a teeny bit of a language geek and love plays on words, even more so when they are in Spanish. El Frijol means bean in Spanish so that is a good indication of what the star of this meal is going to be. Not that chil (as in enchilada) means cheese, because that would be queso, but we'll go with it.

My plate, with the disintegrated tortilla underneath

At first glance this seems like an easy enough dish to prepare, but for some reason things just didn't come together for me tonight. I'm not sure if perhaps by beans were too thick, but my first tortilla disintegrated into them, and the second was almost impossible to pull out. I ended up adjusting the method so that I simply spread the bean mix on the inside of the enchilada, and then once again on top once it was all rolled up. I'm also not sure about the filling. I mean, it was tasty enough, but I really don't think it was meant to go as far as I'd thought.  Ours barely filled four tortillas, and that was with me adding extra cheese and some roasted tomatillo salsa to the mix. I also added a good pinch of cayenne to my beans, but Wil still added hot sauce to his plate.

Although this was tasty I very much doubt I'll make it this way again - far too mucky and the filling certainly needed something more in our opinion. But make it yourself and let me know how you get on!

2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups pinto beans, with their liquid (2 15-ounce cans)
water as needed

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 yellow onion, finely diced
4 ounces button mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 bunch fresh spinach, leaves only (washed well, then drained)
1/2 cup shredded jack cheese

about 10 corn tortillas
cilantro, for garnish

To prepare the beans, heat the oil in a heavy pot or dutch oven over medium. Add the onion and garlic and cook for a few minutes, until softened. Add the beans and cover, then simmer for about 15 minutes.

Puree with an immersion blender, adding water as needed (you’re going for the consistency of gravy or hot fudge sauce). Salt to taste. Turn heat to low.

Heat the oil in a skillet over a medium high. Saute the onion and garlic for 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms, oregano, and salt. Cook, stirring occasionally for 3 minutes. Add the spinach and cook just until it wilts. Taste and adjust seasoning.

Using tongs, dip a tortilla in the beans. Hold it there for about 5-10 seconds, until it has softened but isn’t falling apart. Transfer it to a bowl, fill with about 3 tablespoons of the spinach mixture, sprinkle with a little cheese, then loosely roll up. Repeat for all of the tortillas.

Spoon some of the extra beans over the tortillas, then garnish with cilantro. Serve right away.