Tofu Enchiladas
Hello followers! Today I decided to share a recipe I made the other night. I didn't get a chance to snap a photo unfortunately, they were gobbled down before I thought to take one!
Tofu isn't my first choice for protein, but learning that we had to cut down on animal protein got me seriously considering it, and I don't regret it!
The recipe I used was from Well Plated and was written by Erin Clarke. The ORIGINAL recipe (NOT written by me) is as follows: (The ingredients I used and my process will be written in BLUE, the original will be written in GREEN.)
[https://www.wellplated.com/vegan-enchiladas/#wprm-recipe-container-32932]
Ingredients
- 1 pound firm tofu drained, patted dry, and cut into chunks
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 medium jalapeno peppers seeds and membranes removed, finely chopped
- 1 medium red bell pepper cored, seeded, and diced
- 1 small yellow onion (or 1/2 large onion) finely diced
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast optional
- 1 can black beans (15 ounces) rinsed and drained
- 1 packet frozen spinach (10 ounces) thawed and pressed dry
- 20 ounces red enchilada sauce (2 1/2 cups) plus additional if you like your enchiladas really saucy*
- 18 small corn tortillas for larger enchiladas, you can use larger tortillas and fill them more generously
- For serving: your favorite mix of fresh cilantro avocado, diced green or red onion, lime wedges, radishes, etc.
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly coat a large casserole dish with nonstick spray. Set aside.
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Prepare the enchilada filling: Place the tofu in a food processor and puree for several minutes until smooth, stopping to scrape down the bowl as needed. Sprinkle in the salt, turmeric, black pepper, and cayenne. Pulse a few more times to mix well.
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Heat the 2 tablespoons oil in a deep skillet over medium. Once hot and shimmering, add the jalapeno, bell pepper, and onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables soften and begin to brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in the tofu and nutritional yeast, if using, and continue cooking and stirring until the tofu is heated through and dries somewhat (it should look similar to scrambled eggs), about 5 minutes. Stir in the beans and thawed, pressed spinach. Stir, breaking up the spinach as you go. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste.
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Spoon a thin layer of the enchilada sauce into the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Wrap the tortillas in damp paper or cloth towel and microwave for 30 seconds to make them more pliable. Scoop a 1/4-cup portion of filling into each tortilla (or whatever amount you desire), roll tightly, and place seam-side down in the prepared baking dish. Repeat with remaining tortillas. Spoon the remaining enchilada sauce over the top of the enchiladas. Lightly coat any exposed tortillas with a little nonstick spray or brush with olive oil so that they crisp nicely in the oven.
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Bake for 15 minutes, or until the sauce is hot and bubbly and the tortillas are golden. Serve with desired toppings.
For this recipe I didn't use many of the original ingredients, but I was able to still make delicious enchiladas! I followed the original recipe's instructions for the tofu.
I cubed it up and ground it in my mini blender! (YES, this is featured on our store and one of my most used kitchen items!) I added black pepper, black garlic salt, saffron, chicken bouillon, cayenne, cumin, and oregano. I know, a lot more than what the recipe calls for, but who doesn't like a lot of flavor? This was also my first time cooking tofu! I bought it from Winco and for the life of me, I cannot remember the brand, but I do remember it being "extra firm".
Instead of olive oil, I used butter! We love butter here, we use the salt free option, and we've been instructed to add more dairy to our diet, so why not do so with delicious butter? I chopped up some purple onion, a few yellow and red sweet peppers, cilantro, and some tomato. I first added the peppers and onion to the pan and let that cook for a few minutes. After, I opened and drained a can of black beans (which broke my can opener!) and added about 1/4 cup to the pan along with the tomatoes. Once the onions started to lose their color I added a bit more butter and poured in the tofu.
With the tofu in I lowered the heat and scrambled it all together, hoping to get a lot of the veggie flavor to soak into the tofu. Then I grated up some Dubliner goat cheese! (Delicious, melt-in-your-mouth cheese!)
THE SAUCE: (It was waaaaay too late in the game before I realized I didn't have any!)
I cleaned out my mini blender and added 1/4 of a round tomato, cilantro, one mini orange sweet pepper, two jalapeno stuffed olives, about 1 tbs of lemon juice, about 1/4 tbs of Tapatio hot sauce, 1/4 tbs of minced garlic, about 1 tbs of chopped purple onion, then I didn't measure but sprinkled in the following: chicken bouillon; cayenne pepper; oregano; black pepper; cumin; and a dash of curry. I blended that together and made a delicious enchilada sauce! I didn't look up a recipe for this, I didn't think I had any ingredients for it, so I improvised (something I do a lot) and.... it turned out delicious!
The tofu ended up having a lot more water in it than I expected. I wasn't sure if it was from the added veggies (tomatoes!), but I turned up the heat and got most of the water to evaporate/cook out (nobody likes soggy food, even with saucy enchiladas).
With the sauce and tofu done I followed the original recipe's instructions including adding cheese to the bottom of the tortilla, on the tofu, and plenty on top of the enchiladas. I chose to use flour tortillas, I made 5 and filled the pan!
Thanks for reading along! I hope you enjoyed it and follow for the next recipe! Always remember that you can do anything in the kitchen!
XoxO,
Chaotic Tranquility
