Do you have football mania in your house?  My team wasn’t even close.  As a consolation, even if your team didn’t make the playoffs, the Superbowl is still a fun excuse to get friends together, even if just for the commercials and maybe Justin Timberlake…and, of course, the food.  Like so many of you, I am trying to come up with a menu for the Superbowl.  I will be making a big batch of my Chili Con Quinoa which is always a fan favorite.  In keeping with the Mexican theme, I decided to try out a couple of vegetarian enchilada recipes.  One is stocked full of veggies, spinach, zucchini, corn, tomatoes and the other has Beyond Meat ‘beef’ crumbles in place of ground beef. Well, we liked them both so I’m sharing both recipes this week but on different blog posts.   Today is the veggie enchilada but stay tuned…  I will also repost some of my favorite vegetarian Superbowl recipes this week.

The best thing about these enchiladas is that most of the ingredients come from your pantry or freezer, so it makes a great out of season (or I don’t want to go shopping) meal.  AND there is no pre-cooking.  Its basically an assembly and bake meal.  Feel free to substitute your favorite vegetables just make sure they are all sliced or diced fairly small since they aren’t pre-cooked.  If you want to add some protein, substitute the spinach with a can of drained and rinsed black or pinto beans.   It is also very easy to make this vegan by using vegan cheese.

TIPS:  DO NOT FORGET TO WARM THE TORTILLAS BEFORE FILLING.  THEY WILL SPLIT. GUARANTEED.  I found that 6 enchiladas fit easily in my 9×13 glass pans which means you need two pans, unless you have a larger pan that fits all 12.  If you use multiple pans you may want to have extra enchilada sauce on hand.

VEGETABLE ENCHILADAS

• 1 15 oz can Red Enchilada Sauce
• 1 15 oz can Diced Fire Roasted Tomatoes, drained
• 1 4 oz can diced Green Chilies, drained
• 1 10 oz pkg frozen chopped spinach, thawed
• 1 cup frozen whole kernel corn, thawed
• 1 small zucchini, small dice
• 1-1/2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese (or half pepper jack cheese)
• 12 corn tortillas (6 inch)
• Cooking Spray
• 1 4 oz can sliced black olives (optional)

• Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray baking dish (or 2) with cooking spray. Spread 1 cup sauce over bottom of baking dish.

• Using a double paper towel, squeeze the water out of the spinach.

• In a medium bowl, stir together drained tomatoes, drained chilis, spinach, corn and 1/2 cup cheese.

• Heat the tortillas  in a damp paper towel 6 at a time for about 30-45 seconds in the microwave to soften and make pliable. Spread the middle of each tortilla with 1/3 cup veggie mixture. Roll up and place seam-side down in baking dish.

• Spoon remaining sauce over top of enchiladas and sprinkle with remaining 1 cup cheese. Garnish with black olives, if desired.

• Cover baking dish with aluminum foil and bake 30 minutes or until enchiladas are hot and cheese melts.  I forgot to cover mine until halfway through. Distracted cooking.  It happens. Yours will be prettier.