Dinner Plate #59
Although I knew I'd need to work my way through a package of corn tortillas, I knew I wouldn't mind! Here we have vegan charro beans, some Mexican rice with veggies I had in my freezer, Mexican zucchini with tomato and corn (recipe from Ale Cooks), Mexican mushrooms (recipe from Muy Delish), and mashed potato enchiladas (recipe from Connoisseurus Veg) topped with Daiya Mexican cheese blend and some non-dairy sour cream. I topped it all off with possibly too much cilantro, which got on the rim of the plate and made me a less-than-expert food stylist, but I do not apologize for anything!
I'm not sure if I'd make mashed potato enchiladas again. Don't get me wrong. They were delicious! But they weren't as good as any number of any other enchilada options. Surprisingly, though, when I entered them into my nutrition tracker, they had a good amount of protein, possibly because I always make my mashed potatoes with soy milk. The beans help here, obviously, but mashed potato enchiladas: who knew?
I probably could have had a meal without all of these components, but when it comes to Mexican food, I never seem to have a sense of proportion. It has so many things I love--the Mexican mushrooms are perpetually beloved, the zucchini is a relatively new favorite, Mexican rice is always welcome, and charro beans are always wonderful, too.
I am, however, getting much more skilled with rolling enchiladas. I no longer have to use oil to heat the corn tortillas, I just have to ensure I've heated them long enough--you don't want them warm, you want them piping hot if you are going to roll them up without tearing and you're not using oil. And you can use oil if you want. I just want to save some calories for other goodies, and if I put them all in the enchiladas I won't have an appetite for my multitude of veggies.
Once again, thanks for always including links for the featured recipes--unless they are recipe-less recipes, some of which we all have. Maybe the next thing to try--if you haven't, already--is making your own corn tortillas; a very rewarding, and fun, skill to have, though they do take a bit of practice (like most things). I use organic masa and a small cast iron tortilla press (both easy to find for purchase). And after many varied attempts, I found The Recipe that produces the best corn tortillas (a recipe from NYT writer Mark Bittman).
ReplyDeleteI haven't found the making of corn tortillas to be as rewarding and fun as one might hope; in fact, I find them disappointing and frustrating most of the time. I have made good corn tortillas exactly once, and I can't replicate it. But it's not a priority for me to make everything all the time. I might do it if I have a hankering and have no tortillas, because my bag of masa seems to be endless, but in general, I've found buying the tortillas makes the most sense to me. Maybe next time, I can let you make me the tortillas! Best of all worlds. :)
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