Wasabimon!

A while back I made potato kale enchiladas from Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero’s Veganomicon. In the spirit of the 10^2+1 Cookbook Challenge, I thought I would make it again, this time with their vegan cilantro sour cream (which I’ll outline in another post) and using rainbow chard instead of kale. I was serving a group of six and everyone was super stoked with the results. The general opinion was, “Wait - you mean we can have enchiladas without feeling bloated and crappy afterwards from gorging ourselves on a pound of cheese per person?” I love cheese as much as the next gal, but it’s just not happening for my physiology. Sometimes I lament the loss of the occasional cheesy grease ball, but with alternatives like this dish, I miss it a little less every day.

A few things about this recipe: first, it takes about two hours to prepare the whole thing, about twice the amount of time that the book calls for (Isa must be a mega-uber enchilada roller or something). Second, since the dish is baked, it has more of a casserole texture. The sauce soaks into the tortillas and you end up with what looks like a messy lasagna if you pack the enchiladas into the pan, so if you’re looking for a more schnazzy presentation, leave a little space between them so you can easily remove them one at a time.

Potato Chard Enchiladas
Serves four.

Chile Sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, diced
3 large green chiles, roasted, peeled, and seeded (I used mild Anaheim… use whatever you prefer)
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon marjoram
1 - 28oz can of roasted diced tomatoes, with the juice
1 teaspoon sugar or agave nectar
2 teaspoons salt

Potato - Chard Filling
1 pound Yukon gold or other waxy potatoes
1/2 pound chard, washed, trimmed of stem, and chopped fine
3 tablespoons olive oil
6 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 cup veggie broth
3 tablespoons lime juice (two or three limes worth)
1/4 cup toasted pumpkin seeds, chopped coarsely (just toast them in a hot pan until they start to brown and smell nice, then chop them with a heavy knife)
1 1/2 teaspoon salt, to taste
~10 corn tortillas, depending on how full you want them

Oven needs to be preheated to 375. To save energy, feel free to do this after boiling the potatoes.

Have ready a shallow baking dish, at least 11.5″ x 7.5″.

Sauce:
In a large, heavy bottom sauce pan, saute onion in olive oil over medium heat until soft - about five minutes. Add remaining sauce ingredients, bring up to a simmer, and remove from heat. When mixture has cooled a bit, taste and adjust salt if necessary. Blend the sauce with an immersion blender until smooth (I just poured the mix into my regular blender and used that… it makes far less of a splattery mess than the immersion blender).

Filling:
Peel potatoes if you like (I leave the skins on for taste and texture) and dice them. Boil until tender, about twenty minutes, then drain, mash a bit with a fork, and set aside. Preheat the oven to 375 if you’ve not already done so. Cook olive oil and garlic over medium-low heat, stirring until garlic is slightly browned (don’t burn it!). Add chard and sprinkle with a little sea salt. Increase burner level to medium, stirring constantly to mix chard, oil, and garlic. Cover and steam for about five minutes, until greens are wilted. Remove lid and mix in tomatoes, mashing a bit more as you go. You want it loose, but with nice potato-y chunks. Add veggie stock, lime juice, cumin, pumpkin seeds, and salt, cooking another four minutes, until the stock is absorbed. Add more stock or lime juice to taste, then remove from heat.

Assemble enchiladas:
Pour about 3/4 cup of enchilada sauce into a pie plate or deep dinner plate. Create an assembly line in this order: lightly oiled hot cast iron pan for softening tortillas, plate with sauce, filling, and the baking dish where you’ll be putting your finished enchiladas. Ladle a little sauce into the baking dish and spread it around to lightly cover the bottom. Take a corn tortilla, set it into the hot cast iron pan for 20 seconds, then flip it over and repeat. Once the tortilla is soft and pliable, drop it into the pie plate to completely coat it in sauce, then flip and repeat. Place tortilla in baking dish and run a generous amount of potato filling down the center, rolling it up and placing it in the dish. Continue with the rest of the tortillas, leaving about a quarter inch between them so that they will be easier to plate.

Pour 1 - 1/2 cups of sauce over the top, reserving the rest for later. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 25 minutes, then remove foil and bake for another ten minutes to brown the edges of tortillas. Allow to cool slightly before serving (they’ll be hot!) and top with a little more enchilada sauce and a dollop of vegan cilantro sour cream.