Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Favorite Recipe-With A Twist

Today we were asked to submit a recipe for the blog hop. I LOVE this recipe because the flavor is so amazing, you won't believe it's healthy! Besides, who doesn't LOVE Mexican food? What's not to love? As many of you know, I get amazing organic produce from our local co-op. Well, I have been receiving tons of beautiful rainbow swiss chard and needed to figure out what to do with it so that my little guy will eat it. Generally, we eat alot of greens in soups, but I was looking for something a little more creative. Ok, back to swiss chard. If it isn't something you are familiar with, let me give you a brief description. Chard has beautiful, dark green, fan-like leaves on crunchy stalks that can be white, yellow, red or pink. It belongs to the same family as spinach and beets and when cooked has a similar flavor. *Swiss chard is truly a nutritional all star with excellent marks for its concentrations of vitamin K, vitamin A, vitamin C, magnesium, manganese, potassium, iron, vitamin E, and dietary fiber. Swiss chard also emerges as a very good or good source of copper, calcium, vitamin B2, vitamin B6, protein, phosphorus, vitamin B1, zinc, folate, biotin, niacin and pantothenic acid.*
*source:whfoods.com
What are the benefits to my family's health you ask? Well, let's put it this way. There is so much to say, I have included a link here! Another benefit to this meal is that it is enviromentally friendly. Try to incorporate a couple of vegetarian meals a week into your family's diet to promote health, reduce your carbon footprint and be kinder to your bank account.

Southwestern Veggie Enchiladas
12 corn tortillas
4 oz. jack cheese, shredded
2-3 potatoes(depending on size), peeled and cubed
1 bunch swiss chard, leaves and stalks trimmed and diced
1/2 medium onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, diced
2 TBS. canola oil plus more for for cooking tortillas
8 oz. crimini mushrooms(you can use whatever you like, but I like the meaty texture of these)
1 16 0z. jar of tomatillo salsa(whatever heat level your family is comfortable with)
1/4 tsp. coriander
1/4 tsp. cumin
Light sour cream to garnish

Preheat oven to 350. Put 2 TBS. canola oil into a frying pan and heat until nearly smoking. Add potatoes and cook on med heat until potatoes are lightly browned and tender. Add a bit of salt and pepper and sprinkle with the cumin and coriander just before they are done. Remove to a bowl and set aside.

In the same frying pan, add another TBS of oil if necessary and add in onions, mushrooms and garlic and cook about 4 minutes until the onions are translucent. Add in swiss chard and some salt and pepper. Cook until the chard has wilted completely and its stems are tender. Mix with potatoes and about 1/3 of the cheese.

In another shallow frying pan, add an inch or so of oil and bring it up to med high heat. Lightly fry each tortilla on each side for about 30 sec and then set on paper towels to drain off excess oil.

Pour about 1/2 cup of the salsa on the bottom of your baking dish. Take each tortilla and fill with a couple tablespoons of the mixture and place in the dish with the seam side down. When you have all of the enchiladas rolled and in the pan, cover with remaining salsa and sprinkle with the cheese. Bake until the cheese is melted and starting to get lightly browned. Serve with sour cream!

Serves 4-6


MckLinky Blog Hop

4 comments:

Brandie said...

It looks right to me. You must have figured it out! I am going to try it later this week!!

The Mommy Chef said...

Thanks! I finally got it all done correctly. Let me know what you think of the enchiladas!

Lucy and Ethel said...

LOVE Mexican food and have saved this recipe to try out!

Lucy

Blessed2Serve said...

This sounds great! I find that I rarely eat meat these days (trying to save money!), so yummy, healthy veggie dishes are always welcome. I love that you added Swiss chard... and loads of vitamins and nutrients just with that one addition. Awesome!