Nothing beats the comfort of a warm, melty enchilada that also makes all your taste buds dance! My personal favorite is enchiladas verdes, that uses a tangy and spicy green sauce made with tomatillos. It may seem like a lot of work but with some planning ahead, it can become an easy weeknight dinner or a one-dish entree for a get together. This one is always a crowd pleaser!
The sauce
As the name implies, this is a green sauce that gets its main flavor from tomatillos. Remember to husk and rinse the tomatillos properly to get rid of the sticky stuff on the skin. The color comes from a generous amount of cilantro and also some baby spinach (optional).
Ingredients:
All quantities are to your taste – you cannot go wrong with proportions here.
- Red onion
- Garlic
- Jalapeno pepper
- Tomatillos
- Cilantro
- Fresh baby spinach (just for color and the sneaky veggie boost!)
The simplest of sauces, all the flavor comes directly from the veggies! Just sauté all ingredients together, add some water, cover and cook for about 15 minutes, cool and blend!! You could add some spices like cumin and salt if you like but I did not!
Alternate cooking method: Roast all ingredients in the oven and blend.
Tip: I make a big batch and freeze the sauce in containers in the freezer. It also works as a delicious condiment with omelettes or anything else!
The Filling
This is where the beauty of the enchilada lies! The filling can be totally customized to be vegetarian or not and to use the protein of your choice (beans, meat etc). Basically it is a chance to use up whatever vegetables you have in the fridge.
For this round, I sautéed eggplant, zucchini, and green bell peppers. I also had some previously cooked chicken that I had marinated with yogurt, lemon juice, cumin, ancho chili powder, paprika, Mrs. Dash salt-free original seasoning, and pepper. The same flavors were echoed in the vegetables as well.
Putting it all together
Using corn tortillas makes it both gluten-free as well as low-sodium. No salt has been added so far – either in the filling or in the sauce!
- Fill each tortilla with the filling mixture of your choice.
- Roll and line up the tortillas in a baking dish.
- Pour the sauce generously over the tortillas.
- Top with Swiss cheese to control the sodium. I used the Boars Head Lacey Swiss cheese that has only 35mg of sodium per ounce. Just to fool the tongue, I finished off the enchiladas with a sprinkling of Kraft Finely Shredded Colby Jack. This gives the requisite color and taste.
Serving suggestion: When plating, top the enchiladas with sour cream and serve with sliced avocados on the side.
Other than the inherent sodium in the chicken (if using), the only sodium in the whole dish came from the cheese (500 mg of sodium between the Swiss and Colby Jack cheeses). A true low sodium flavor bomb! Enjoy!!