Spinach Mushroom Enchiladas

The pictures would be better if we weren't so damn hungry.

The eternal question: what to do when hosting vegetarians for dinner? Before I went gluten-free, I was vegetarian for a number of years. I started eating meat again while studying abroad in Dublin - most of my anti-meat qualms were environmental and the meat in Ireland is all pretty... local. Oh, and delicious. It ended up being an easy transition: a foreign country, a new diet. I started eliminating wheat in a big way after my first tall pint of Guinness- oh lord, never again.

Last night I went for the old standby: Mexican food. Beans and rice are a middle ground for all special eaters. Sometimes vegetarian options can get a little stultifying in the taco department: do you really want to eat a potato taco? So I found a recipe for spinach enchiladas on the Food Network. (*Danger! Emeril suggests making a roux with his spinach. I didn't, out of laziness, but for eating out this is another flour source to be wary of!)

I usually always like what I cook (and who can go wrong with baked cheese?) but this time I was particularly impressed. I simplified Emeril's recipe the way I always simplify a recipe, basically, read it once and then make it all up as I go along. Last night's menu was:

Mango Sangria
Spinach Mushroom Enchiladas
Beans and Rice
Guacamole Salad

[I will post the salad & sangria recipe later.]

Enchiladas, Beans and Rice (serves six hungry pigs)

1 bag spinach, blanched
Block of monterey jack or cheddar or both, shredded
About 15 corn tortillas
10 or so little white mushrooms, sliced and sauteed
1 large yellow onion, sliced and sauteed with...
Cumin, garlic, chili powder, pepper, salt, oil.
2c brown rice
1 large can black beans
1 small can pickled jalapenos
1 habanero pepper, roasted
1 tomato, diced

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Put the rice on first, with plenty of oil and salt in the water.

Emeril says to roast the habanero pepper over the open flame of the stove. I have an electric stove (oh, the horror!) so I blackened it...over a candle. No joke. It works!

In another pot, heat up the beans. Drain the juice of the pickled jalapenos into the pot, save and slice - and use 2-3 of the peppers. Stir, and let cook for about 30 minutes. Later! Add slices of your roasted habanero pepper and the diced tomato.

Brown the onions, adding all the requisite spices. Set aside.

Saute the mushrooms.

Enlist a sous chef to grate cheese.

Preheat the oven to 350.

Then, blanch the spinach. Here is a very helpful video from Gluten-Free Girl on blanching. I had never done it before - but it was easy enough and very intrinsic to the success of the enchiladas. (Essentially: dunk the spinach in boiling water for 30 seconds, remove with tongs and place in a giant pot with ice water in it. Then squeeze it dry a little in a sieve. No one likes a watery enchilada, or overcooked spinach.)


Phew! Make little taco pockets in a baking pan, adding cheese, spinach, mushrooms and onions to all. (Save half the onions for the rice.) Repeat, repeat, repeat.

Use the bubbling liquid FROM THE BEANS to pour over all the little enchiladas. Make sure it's nice and soupy in there.

Cover the entire thing in cheese.

Bake for 30 minutes, and if you want, at the end, broil for about 1 minute to brown the cheese.

Add the remaining onions to your cooked rice.

Serve with Greek yogurt - or sour cream, hot sauce, and the guacamole salad which I will post soon!