Butternut squash and black bean enchiladas with tomatillo salsa
In the United States, Cinco de Mayo is widely interpreted as a celebration of Mexican culture and heritage, and for many people, an excuse to enjoy tacos on a day other than Tuesday. Sure, Taco Tuesday is great but there’s so much more to Mexican food. Like enchiladas! Tacos and enchiladas are both very popular in the U.S., where most Mexican food is far from authentic or traditional. But I love it all. Mexican (which comes from a combination of ancient Aztec, Mayan and Spanish traditions), Tex-Mex and other Southwest dishes all have their nuances but similarly celebrate fresh ingredients such as tomatoes, chiles, tomatillos, onions and cilantro.
Enchiladas, which actually did originate in Mexico where the practice of rolling tortillas around food such as small fish dates back to Aztec times, are one of my favorites. When making enchiladas at home, I like to experiment with different salsas and fillings. Chicken and vegetarian are my favorite. (Let's face it: at the end of the day, it’s really all about the guac.) With Cinco de Mayo around the corner, I wanted to share my version of roasted butternut squash, corn and black bean enchiladas, topped with a red sauce and freshly made tomatillo salsa.
Ironically, or sadly, the only Mexican food I knew growing up was hard shell tacos with ground beef, iceberg lettuce, tomatoes and cheddar cheese with La Victoria Red Taco Sauce. That was as spicy as it got at my childhood home. Heck, I never had guacamole until after graduating from college. But then I moved to Arizona at the age of 23 and was exposed to an entire menu of Mexican food including a long list of enchilada varieties with options for beef, pork, chicken or fish; corn or flour tortillas; and red or green sauce. For your Spanish 101 lesson, “enchilada” is the past participle of Spanish enchilar, "to add chili pepper to", which literally means “to season (or decorate) with chili." Huh. Señora Rawlings never taught me that word in middle school.
The whole enchilada
I’ve made a variety of different enchilada recipes in the past and no two are ever quite the same. That’s the beauty of enchiladas. You can mix and match the fillings to suit your taste or depending on what ingredients you have handy. Enchiladas can be a bit time consuming, but if you make the sauce (wait, I am the sauce) and any salsas ahead of time, then really, it’s just a matter of cooking the meat or veggies, chopping the toppings, assembling and baking the enchiladas. I recommend doing these activities with Little Bit is Better Than Nada playing in the background, because “sometime you want the whole enchilada.”
Pictured here, I rolled the enchiladas in flour tortillas, topped with red sauce, tomatillo salsa, Cotija cheese and lots of pretty, fresh greens.
The parts that make up the whole enchilada include:
Filling: Think chicken, beef, pork, fish, beans, corn, roasted vegetables such as squash, sweet potatoes or even cauliflower.
Sauce: There are lots of premade sauces available for purchase. Or you can make your own homemade enchilada sauce. See suggestions below.
Tortillas: Corn tortillas are the most typical, but you can certainly use flour. Siete Foods makes several gluten-free options including cassava flour and almond flour.
Cheese: Monterey Jack, Cotija, Queso Fresco and Feta are all good options.
Fresh toppings: Pico de gallo, chopped tomatoes, tomatillo salsa, mango salsa, cilantro, jalapeños, chopped green onions, red onions, sour cream, avocado crema; you get the picture.
Avocados: These get their own line. In my kitchen, guac isn’t extra; it’s mandatory. Either sliced/chopped avocados or homemade guacamole will do the trick.
Butternut Squash, Corn and Black Bean Enchiladas with Tomatillo Salsa
I have been wanting to make something similar to the butternut squash and corn enchiladas at The Herb Box in Old Town Scottsdale, Arizona. They are delicious and come with a kale salad on the side. When my son came to dinner last week, I started with this recipe for Roasted Squash, Corn and Black Bean Enchiladas — with the addition of homemade tomatillo salsa. When I went to assemble the enchiladas, one pan got the whole works – both Monterey Jack and Cotija cheeses, red sauce and tomatillo salsa. The other pan was gluten and dairy free, so cheese-less and rolled into cassava flour tortillas with lots of sauce so they wouldn’t be too dry. (I used cornstarch in the sauce in place of flour.) In hindsight, I would change the ratio of veggies and go heavier on the squash, a little lighter on the beans and maybe skip the corn altogether. You could totally use sweet potatoes in place of the squash if desired. Also, the red sauce tasted good but I wished it was more red in color.
This is the gluten- and dairy-free version made with cassava flour tortillas. Again, it’s all about the avocados and fresh greens.
Making the enchiladas
If you’re wanting homemade, make your red sauce and tomatillo salsa first. Both can be made a day ahead. I made my red sauce and the filling according to the recipe but changed up the cheeses and toppings. Consult the recipe for complete directions for assembling and baking the enchiladas.
Red Sauce
Make the red sauce according to recipe directions, (which is what I did), or use your favorite sauce. I really like both the red and green sauce recipes from The Feasting Home, which are made with fresh tomatoes and tomatillos respectively. Below is the tomatillo salsa I always make. Warning, it’s spicy.
Tomatillo Salsa
Ingredients:
1 lb. tomatillos (approximately 8 medium sized)
4 small serrano chilis
1 jalapeño
4 cloves garlic (minced)
3/4 c. cilantro (chopped)
3/4 c. green onion (chopped)
Directions:
Remove skin of tomatillos, rinse, then place on sheet pan lined with foil. Remove stems from chilis and place on cookie sheet with tomatillos.
Turn oven to Broil. Place sheet pan on top rack about 4 inches from top. Broil until blackened slightly. Flip over tomatillos and chilis and place back in oven until slightly blackened on other side. Remove from oven and allow to cool 5 minutes. Add blackened tomatillos and chilis, cilantro, green onions and garlic to blender or food processor. Pour in juice captured in foil. Blend together to make a sauce type texture. Do not over blend. Can be made ahead of time and refrigerated.
Roast the squash
Heat the oven to 425°F. Toss the squash with olive oil and salt. Arrange in a single layer on a parchment-lined sheet pan. Roast for 25 minutes. Stir once halfway through. Cool slightly. Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F.
Mix the slightly cooled squash with the black beans and corn in a large bowl. Spread 1/2 cup of the sauce in an even layer over the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish. (Note, that I used two smaller pans in order to customize per above.)
Roll the enchiladas
To assemble the enchiladas, place the tortillas on a large cutting board or counter. Spread about 2 tablespoons of sauce over the top of each tortilla, then top with the vegetable mixture and a couple tablespoons of grated Monterey Jack cheese. Roll tightly to close, and place seam-side down in the baking dish. Repeat with the remaining tortillas. Spread the remaining sauce over the top of the enchiladas, add tomatillo salsa and sprinkle with Cotija cheese.
Bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes at 350°F.
While the enchiladas are baking, prepare your salad. I feel like the pool of refried beans and pile of rice so often served with the American version of Mexican food is too much. I prefer to have fresh greens alongside my enchiladas. This could be spinach, kale, romaine or even a cabbage slaw dressed in olive oil and lime juice.
Kale Salad with Roasted Pepitas
Ingredients:
Baby kale
Pepitas, roasted
Tomatoes
Avocado
Black pepper
Flaky salt
Dressing of choice (Caesar, oil & vinegar)
Note that most of my salads don’t have recipes. I just eyeball how much each person will eat and put it together so the proportions look good. Very scientific, I know.
Roast the pepitas: Buy raw pepitas from the bulk section of your grocery store. Cover the bottom of a fry pan, sauté the seeds on medium-low watching constantly. They’ll start browning and popping, salt them liberally and give the pan a few shakes to move them around. Cool on parchment paper. You can do this in advance and store in a jar in your pantry.
Make the salad: I used baby kale, which is more tender, and threw in a few mixed greens. Cut the tomatoes into bite-sized pieces (if using cherry tomatoes, slice the larger ones in half) Top with sliced avocados, a few grinds of black pepper and flaky sea salt. I’m thinking the salad would have been pretty with charred corn on top (vs. putting corn in the enchiladas). Next time.
Serve the salad and enchiladas with your choice of toppings alongside a pitcher of margaritas or ice-cold flavored sparkling waters and some crunchy tortilla chips. The Siete Lime grain-free chips are a good gluten-free option according to my family.
Your turn — get ready for Cinco de Mayo
Enchiladas would be great for your Cinco de Mayo dinner. Your family will love you. Prep your fillings and sauces/salsas early and then just assemble the enchiladas before baking. In addition to the butternut squash variety, here are two more of my favorite recipes:
Black Bean Sweet Potato Enchiladas — the feta cheese and sweet potatoes play nice together.
Chicken and White Bean Enchiladas with Creamy Salsa from Skinny Taste, but the way I make them I don’t think they qualify as “skinny” … as I always increase the amount of cheese and go heavy on the sauce.
Keeping it real, I will confess that we still enjoy hard-shell tacos with ground beef and Lawry’s seasoning, cheddar cheese and Victoria Red Taco Sauce. A Chipotle bowl is also hard to beat. I recommend ordering the vegetarian bowl— because the guac isn’t extra. You heard it here.
Leftover enchiladas never looked better. The next day I topped with more Cotija cheese and tomatillo salsa, added guacamole, and finished with fresh cilantro and chopped red onion.