Mary’s Favorite Spinach Enchiladas
Recipe by Mary Leal, Granby Farm Stand Manager
While this recipe below is for the spring, one can make variations with any kinds of vegetable stuffing. Try black beans and roasted sweet potatoes in winter, or replace the tomato-based sauce with homemade salsa verde in summertime.
Start by making a tomato enchilada sauce. 
• 1 Qt tomato puree or canned tomatoes (my favorite is RFF tomato puree, of course) – can use 1 large can of crushed or diced tomato, or 2 small cans
• ½ tsp coarse salt/pepper to taste
• ¾ tsp dried oregano (or scant ½ tsp fresh)
• ¼ tsp cumin seeds (or scant ½ tsp pre-ground)
• heaping ¼ tsp chili pepper
• 1 large garlic clove, roughly diced
Pour the tomato sauce into a heavy-bottomed pot. Put the rest of the ingredients into a mortar or pestle and grind into a paste. If you don’t have a m&p, dice the herbs and mash them onto your cutting board with the flat edge of your knife. Stir the herb paste into the tomatoes; give the mixture a taste and then add anything that you think might either be missing, or might make it taste good. I have used (not always in the same batch!): fresh/dried cilantro, pre-made or store bought mole sauce, pre-made or store bought salsa, adobo sauce (yum!), sriracha, cocoa powder, cinnamon. Think about what flavors you like and play around.
Bring your enchilada sauce to a simmer. Cover it and turn down the heat and go read a book or watch something on TV. Tell your family you are very, very busy cooking. You want it to gently cook (small bubbles) for about 45mins or so. If you’re tight on time, it will be fine after 30mins. Likewise, if you get caught up in a Dr. Who episode and can’t tear yourself away, you can let it simmer for at least an hour, or even longer. If your sauce is very chunky, your enchiladas will be fine as long as you like chunky sauce. If you want a more traditional enchilada, give the sauce a whirl in a blender or hit it with an immersion blender. It doesn’t need to be perfectly pureed.
While the sauce is cooking, prep your spinach and cheese.
• 8oz bag organic (RFF) spinach
• ~2 cups shredded, mild, white cheese – I use queso blanco, but mozzarella or Monterey Jack will work fine
Wash and dry the spinach and pinch off any thick stems. Roughly chop the spinach. Done! Shred your favorite mild melty cheese. Monterey Jack works well, as does mozzarella. My favorite is Queso Fresco or Queso Blanco – very mild, white, Mexican cheeses.
Assembly! Most important – Don’t skimp on the tortillas!
• 6 Mi Tierra, organic corn tortillas – locally made
The tortilla is like an edible suitcase for the lovely ingredients you’ll be packing away inside. Yes, you can use garbage bags to pack your clothes, but wouldn’t you rather pack in Louis Vuitton? Of course you would! And that’s what Mi Tierra tortillas are.
Prep your cooking dish. I use an 8×8 Pyrex baking pan to make 6 enchiladas. Spread a spoonful of the enchilada sauce on the bottom of the pan, much as though you were making lasagna.
Taking one tortilla at a time, dip the tortilla into the sauce, getting the whole thing wet and tomato-y. Give up any notions of having clean hands. Holding the sauce dipped tortilla in the palm of one hand, use the other hand to put a handful (~ ½ cup) of chopped spinach onto the tortilla. Follow that with a generous sprinkling of the shredded cheese (scant ¼ cup). Of note – you can also add other ingredients at this point – cooked black beans, cubes of roasted sweet potatoes – just don’t stuff the tortillas too full. My rule of thumb is to be able to hold the tortilla with the fillings in the palm of my hand without stuff falling out willy-nilly. Once you’ve got the filling in place, fold the left and right sides over the middle of the tortilla (folding the tortilla in 3rds) – using the thumb of the hand holding the tortilla to hold the fillings in place. Place the filled tortilla, folded edge down into the pan. The first one might be unruly, but you’ll be able to bully it into place with the rest of the enchiladas.
Repeat the process, filling your pan with rolled enchiladas. You want the enchiladas to be snug, not crammed. My 8×8 pan accommodates 5 horizontal and 1 vertically placed enchiladas. You could make a small batch of 4 in a loaf pan, or a huge batch of “lots” in a lasagna pan (just be sure to make more enchilada sauce and prep more spinach and cheese.) Six enchiladas feeds three people (with a salad and/or side dishes – did I hear someone say pupusas?) or 2 hungry people.
Once the enchiladas are all snuggly and ready to be cooked, pour some (maybe all, if you like them saucy) of the enchilada sauce over the top (reserving a ½ cup if you want to make some Spanish rice as a side dish), sprinkle with the remainder of the shredded cheese (or shred more cheese, if you made them super cheesy on the inside), cover with aluminum foil and pop into a pre-heated oven at 350. After 20 mins, take the foil off and cook for an additional 5-10 mins. Some people love crusty brown cheese, some people love soft, melty white cheese. Take them out when they look/smell like you want to eat them. Let them rest for 5-10 mins and enjoy! If you are one of the happy people who don’t have the deviant gene that makes cilantro taste like soap, sprinkle with some chopped, fresh cilantro and/or serve with some fresh sour cream or plain yogurt. And consider serving with Spanish rice…
If you like rice with your enchiladas, once your sauce is done cooking and the enchiladas are filled, start your rice. Use whatever ratio you usually use to cook your rice, but substitute a portion of the cooking water with the enchilada sauce. For example, if you do a 2-1 ratio of water to rice, you would do ½ cup enchilada sauce with 1 ½ cups of water to 1 cup of rice. Continue cooking your rice as you usually would. The rice will be flavored with the enchilada sauce, making it the perfect accompaniment to your enchiladas!