Cinco de Mayo Dinner - Enfrijoladas & Gabby's Cheesy Rice

These are two of my favorite Mexican dishes.  Enfrijoladas are similar to enchiladas but instead of using a chilie based enchilada sauce you make a quick, thick sauce with black or pinto beans.  Corn tortillas are dipped into the hot bean sauce and folded.  You can fill them with just about anything from veggies to chorizo or simply dip them in the sauce and top them with cheese. Here’s a link to one recipe I especially enjoy that is even faster because it starts with black bean soup.  

My version doesn’t take much longer, though.  Black beans are pureed with water or broth, cumin and garlic. I pureed the mixture with an immersion blender right in my saucepan.  The filling is kale, onion, red pepper and mushrooms.  (If you’re Feingold stage 1 just omit the red pepper and you’ve got a stage 1 Mexican dish.)  The bright colors of the veggies remind me of the Mexican flag.  The dish is ready to serve immediately after filling.

Gabby’s Cheesy Rice is amazing.  Gabby brings her cheesy rice to many of our fiestas and my guys love it.  They were pretty excited to have it mid-week and know that I have the recipe now.  I made them in Gabby’s “lazy” way.  By not layering the ingredients the cheese and chilies were thick, gooey and delicious. (Again, for Feingold stage 1 just omit the chilies.)

This was a hearty dinner and there are plenty of leftovers for tomorrow.

Enfrijoladas

12 corn tortillas – check the package some are not 100% corn and have wheat.

Bean Sauce – puree together and heat in saucepan:

3 cups cooked Black Beans

1 cup water, bean cooking liquid or broth

1 teaspoon cumin

½ teaspoon garlic

Dash Salt

Dash Pepper

Veggies – sauté in 1 Tablespoon of Olive Oil:

8 ounces mushrooms, chopped

1 large red bell pepper, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cups Kale, washed and torn into small pieces

Garnish:

1 cup Cojita Cheese, crumbled

½ cup Guacamole

½ cup Salsa

To assemble:

Dip one tortilla into bean sauce, set either on a baking sheet or directly onto a serving plate.  Add a spoonful of veggies and fold in half.  Continue with the rest of the tortillas and top with cheese.

Gabby’s Cheesy Rice

And here is Gabby’s Recipe just as she typed it for me:

1 1/4 cups uncooked white rice, cooked (makes 2 and 1/2-ish cups cooked rice).

3/4 lb monterey jack cheese, cut into strips

1 cup sour cream

1 4-oz can green chilis, drained

1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded.

preheat oven to 325.

combine sour cream and green chilis.

layer 1 cup cooked rice in bottom of greased baking dish

top with 1/2 of sour cream mixture, and layer 1/2 of jack cheese on top of that.

layer 1 more cup cooked rice, repeat layers of sour cream/cheese, top with remaining rice.

sprinkle shredded cheddar on top, cover with foil and cook for 30-45 minutes until bubbly.

(i often just do rice then a single layer of the sour cream and cheese, top with the rest of the rice, and then cheese-- b/c i'm lazy. :))

I hope you enjoy this meal as much as we do.