Saturday, July 30, 2011

Enchiladas

Today felt like an Enchilada day.  Actually, yesterday, when I took the meat out of the freezer to defrost, felt like an enchilada day.

Boy it was a lot of work and a lot of dishes.  I cooked the beans from dried.  I also made an avocado/yogurt/sour cream/lime/cilantro sauce to cut the heat.  I used El Pato, and it was spicy.


Enchiladas
1 lb 90% lean ground beef (local, organic, free range): $3.99 (big sale!!)
4 cups cooked pinto beans: 0.56
4 small yellow crookneck squash: 1.00
1 onion: 0.30
4 cloves garlic: 0.20
1 tsp each cumin, chili powder, oregano: 0.15
2.25 oz shredded cheddar: 0.35
2.5 oz shredded mozzarella: 0.63
4 large whole wheat tortillas: 1.33
9 oz (1/3 can) El Pato chile sauce: 0.66

Total: $9.17 for 12 servings, $0.76 each

I make layered enchiladas because they are MUCH easier.

Cook the meat, onion, squash, and spices in a frying pan until the meat is cooked through and the veggies are soft.  Add the beans.

In a 13x9 pan: spray the pan with nonstick spray.  First, layer two tortillas on the bottom.  I usually cut one into pieces so that I get a single layer, or close to it.  Next, spread on 1/2 of the chile sauce.  Scoop on 1/2 of the meat/bean mixture, and 1/2 of the cheese.

Repeat layers: tortillas, sauce, meat, cheese.

Bake at 400F for 40 minutes.

Sauce before:


Avocado sour cream sauce:
1 medium avocado: 1.00
1 small lime (juice and zest): 0.69
1/2 cup low fat plain yogurt: 0.35
1/2 cup light sour cream: 0.50
1 clove garlic: 0.05
tbsp of fresh chives if you've got 'em
salt
1/2 cup cilantro: 0.33

Total: $2.92 for 1.5 cups, or $0.49 per 1/4 cup serving.

Sauce after:


It was a little cilantro-y.  I think it needed less sour cream and more avo, but it at least cut the heat from the El Pato.

5 comments:

j. said...

That looks really good. I'll have to try the (possibly veganized) avo/ sour cream sauce when I have a kitchen.

I've never tried squash in enchiladas before. Tacos, yes, but they got a bit of a weird, squeaky texture.

Marcia said...

I think the sauce would be really good veganized. Like I said: more avo, less white stuff = better. Maybe more garlic too.

I made the enchiladas once with potatoes instead of meat (and they were really good). I generally just add whatever veggies I have, and right now, it's squash.

Anonymous said...

this looks so good.....can i come over?

Marcia said...

plenty of leftovers!

Biz said...

Holy shizz, you had me at avocado cream sauce!!

Looks amazing - and don't feel bad, every time I cook every spoon, fork, knife, pan and pot is used - drives my family nuts!