This is a funky take on enchiladas (one of my childhood favorites). I originally concocted this sauce when I had some spinach and cauliflower that needed to get used. They can be filled with just cheese, chicken, or pork. I like to serve these with a corn and avocado salad.
Sauce
1-2 roasted* jalapenos
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 cans tomatillos, drained
1 bunch of fresh cilantro, roughly chopped (I just cut it with kitchen sheers, including some stems)
2 “handfuls” (about 2-3 cups) fresh spinach
¼ cup cauliflower “pearls” or riced cauliflower ( I have used fresh and frozen)
Salt to taste
*Roasting is optional. I accidently roasted mine, but thought it brought out the flavor*
Enchiladas and filling
¼ cup shredded white cheddar cheese
1 ½ cups shredded Monterey jack cheese
2 dozen corn tortillas
6 Hatch or Anaheim peppers, roasted, seeded, and sliced
Roasting the peppers
Turn on oven broiler to High
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Rinse/wash your peppers and pat dry
Place peppers on baking sheet and place in oven
Roast for about 10-15 minutes until they start to blacken and blister, using tongs, turn peppers over to blister the other side. Roast for another 10-15 minutes
Once peppers are roasted, remove from oven and transfer the peppers to a clean dish towel and wrap tightly. Let them steam in the towel for about 30 minutes. (You can skip this step, but it makes the peppers easier to peel).
To peel the peppers, I lightly rub the peppers between my fingers to gently remove the skin then I tug the stem and pull out the seeds.
Slice the peppers lengthwise into eighths. Set the Hatch/Anaheim peppers aside.
Sauce
In the bowl of a large food processor add your roasted, peeled, and seeded jalapenos, garlic, drained tomatillos, roughly chopped cilantro, spinach, and cauliflower pearls or riced. Pulse until well combined and the consistency of a thin salsa. Taste and add salt as needed.
Assembling the Enchiladas
I get a little messy during this part because I prefer to stuff and roll each enchilada individually, but you could also just layer your tortillas and the filling like a lasagna.
Lightly grease a casserole dish (I used a square Pyrex dish) and preheat your oven to 350°F.
Start by setting up you assembly line.
Hot skillet with oil and tortillas, the green chile sauce in a bowl, a bowl with all of your shredded cheeses (mixed), your reserved roasted chiles, and your prepared baking dish.
In a large-ish skillet heat about two tablespoons of cooking oil on low.
Add a stack of corn tortillas. Let the bottom one cook until tender, then, using tongs, turn the whole stack and remove what was the bottom tortilla from the stack and place into the green sauce.
Coat the tortilla in the sauce then lay it in the baking dish, add a good helping of cheese and a slice of chile.
Roll the tortilla tightly and press to one side of the dish.
Continue the process with your tortillas until you run out of chiles, cheese, and/or tortillas.
Bake in a preheated oven until warmed through and cheese starts to get brown and bubbly.
*The sauce is also great served over pork chops, with chips, nachos, basically anything that you can think of to eat a green salsa with.*
Momandbabebites 