Vegan Vegetable Enchiladas

On an absolute whim, I decided I would make some Vegan Vegetable Enchiladas.

I had tortillas, lots of vegetables and time – so what did I have to lose…well, except that I’d never made them before and an enchilada sauce seemed intimidating to me!

The sauce was truly the part of the dish that has caused me hesitation in the past. I know, I know, you can go “buy” enchilada sauce, but, what’s the fun in that?!

As I scanned the internet for recipes and ideas, I truly could NOT believe how easy it was to make an enchilada sauce right at home! I basically found 2 recipes I liked used a bit from here and a bit from there and then added in my own little bits and came up with the recipe below.

Vegetable Enchilada Ingredients:

vegetables…any that you think might be good wrapped in enchilada deliciousness. I used corn, squash, zucchini, carrots, broccoli and artichoke hearts.
tortillas – I used 8 inch whole grain tortillas (I believe corn based)
garlic, salt & pepper to taste
pinto or other beans – not necessarily needed, but I enjoyed them on the side – and you could add them to the enchiladas too
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts (optional)

for enchilada sauce:

3 Tablespoons Coconut Oil
2 teaspoons Ground Cumin
6 ounces Tomato Paste
20 ounces (2 1/2 cups vegetable stock)
1/2 cup water

First things first, preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Then, I would recommend, chopping and preparing your vegetables.

After this, start your enchilada sauce in a medium saucepan.

Enchilada Sauce Directions:

Add 2 Tablespoons Coconut Oil to a saucepan and warm on medium heat.

To this add in:

6 ounces of tomato paste
2 teaspoons ground cumin
20 ounces (2 1/2 cups) vegetable broth

Mix well and bring mixture to a boil.

Whisk in 1/2 cup water and lower the heat to simmer sauce 5-8 minutes.

While my sauce was simmering, I cooked my veggies adding 1 Tablespoon coconut oil to a frying pan and heating them through.

I started by tossing the carrots, squash, zucchini and frozen corn into heat (yes, I would’ve used fresh corn if I had some), then added some artichoke hearts, then I decided I wanted to add some garlic (decisions are always last minute here), so I made room in the middle of the pan to heat it before I mixed it in, then finally I added the broccoli.

As I was roaming through my cupboards, I came across these tasties:

and decided this dish might benefit from adding some tasty, toasted pine nuts…so….

yep, I toasted some and tossed them in the mixture.

Now, at this point in the recipe, you have a major decision to make – you can warm your tortillas (wrap in foil and warm in the oven for 5-10 minutes) or just use them straight out of the package. I decided to warm mine, but may just use them straight from the package next time (or maybe get really brave and make my own!).

Either way, fill each tortilla with about 1/3 cup of the filling (I may have possibly overstuffed mine – just a personal preference as I made a LOT of filling), roll the enchiladas and place in a baking dish.

I decided to top 1/2 of the enchiladas with a small amount of Daiya vegan shreds. Why? well, because I had a little bit of them left in the fridge.

Pour on the delicious enchilada sauce you’ve created, cover with foil and pop the enchiladas into the oven.

Bake the enchiladas for 15-20 minutes (mine were overstuffed, so I may have left them in there about 25-30 minutes) and then cool for 5 minutes before you enjoy!

We ate them just like this with a side of beans, but you could add some additional toppings after they’re cooked.

Other Topping Suggestions:

vegan sour cream
guacamole
sliced olives
chopped green chili

What do you think?? Once you get started, it’s super easy! I’d say pulling the ingredients together was less than 5 minutes, making the sauce less than 3 minutes, chopping veggies about 5 minutes, heating veggies about 10 minutes, rolling enchiladas 3 minutes and baking 25 minutes …all done in less than an hour!

I wanted this recipe up for Meatless Monday – but this Monday was a bit crazy around here…(as Bubba sighs):