Black Bean Spinach Enchiladas

These enchiladas rock our world! Before now, it never occurred to me to make my own enchilada sauce but I'm SO glad I did. It's pretty simple and can be easily customized to suit your own taste (i.e. adding your own favorite seasonings, or some cayenne pepper or ground chipotle if you like a kick.) I highly suggest trying it yourself because it really adds something special to this dish, taking it above and beyond 😊 We love to pair it with Cilantro Lime Rice!

PS - come join The Garden Grazer on Instagram 🍓 and share a pic if you make these! I love seeing what you guys cook up.

Vegan (with dairy-free cheese)
Gluten-free (with gf flour and corn tortillas)
Adapted from Martha Stewart

Ingredients
{For the sauce}
3 cups organic low sodium vegetable broth
1/4 cup tomato paste
1/4 cup all purpose flour (I use gf all-purpose)
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. chili powder
Salt/pepper

{For the enchiladas}
15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 cups corn (I used frozen, thawed)
6 oz. fresh baby spinach
6 green onions, thinly sliced
1/3 cup cilantro, chopped
2 tsp. cumin
3 cups shredded 3 cheese blend (or pepper jack, etc.)
8 large flour tortillas

Directions
Make the sauce: in a saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add tomato paste, flour, 2 tsp. cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, and chili powder. Cook 1 minute, whisking. Whisk in broth, bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer, and cook until slightly thickened about 8 minutes. Salt/pepper to taste, and set aside.

Saute the spinach in olive oil over medium heat for 1-2 minutes until slightly wilted.
In a large bowl, combine beans, 2 cups cheese, spinach, corn, green onions, 2 tsp. cumin, and cilantro.
Preheat oven to 375. Lightly spray a 9x13 inch baking dish, and pour a small amount of the sauce to coat the bottom.
Generously fill tortillas with mixture, roll up tightly with ends tucked in, and place seam side down in dish.
Pour remaining sauce over the enchiladas, coating evenly. Sprinkle 1 cup cheese on top.
Bake about 20 minutes, and garnish with cilantro and/or green onions (optional).

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Freezer Instructions
A sweet reader, Kara, tested out this recipe as a freezer meal and found it worked great. Here are her instructions:

"I made the enchiladas as you outlined above, stopping before adding the sauce and cheese to the top. I froze the enchiladas and the sauce separately. Thawed the sauce in the fridge overnight, then when I was ready to bake, I heated the sauce slowly in a saucepan - whisking helped keep it smooth. Then poured the sauce over the frozen enchiladas, added some cheese, and baked @ 400, covered for 30 minutes and uncovered for 15 minutes."

Awesome. Thank you Kara!

Keep the fiesta going!

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