Quinoa and Black Bean Enchiladas

I am way behind on my recipes. I have a bunch of photos stored away and a bunch of recipe cards just waiting to be typed up. I'm working on it now that I have a little bit of time to breathe. This recipe I actually made months ago and enjoyed it, and I just found the recipe card while I was cleaning up my kitchen, so I figured it was time to type it up and post it. I'm sure I have a photo somewhere, but I'm not sure where at the moment, so you get a photoless entry for now.

I'm really fascinated with tomatillos now. Which is probably a good thing, since evidently, one of my co-workers has a giant tomatillo plant that is making so much fruit he isn't sure what to do with it all. This recipe calls for them to be roasted first. I had an interesting experience with trying to chop them afterwards, because they just burst apart. So while the recipe calls for them to be chopped, I more like mashed them. The end result was essentially the same, I think.

When I've made salsa verde in the past, it hasn't come out right, but I do think it complements this dish well and adds some to the flavor. I like a little extra spice (though nothing compared to my Asian and Indian friends), so I used a whole Poblano and didn't blink an eye about having some seeds in there. There was nice heat.

Quinoa and Black Bean Enchiladas
Originally found at Blue Apron

1/2 cup quinoa*
4 large tomatillos, husked
1 Poblano pepper
Olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
2 Tbsp water
2 limes
1 1/4 cup cooked black beans (or 1 can), rinsed
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp chile powder*
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp ground cumin
4-6 tortillas
1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack Cheese

Preheat oven to 475F. Bring a pot of salted water to boil. Rinse the quinoa under cold water, then add to boiling water. Cook 16-18 minutes, until tender. Drain and transfer to a medium bowl. Place tomatillos and Poblano pepper on sheet pan. Drizzle with olive oil and roat 10-12 minutes, until browned and softened. When cool enough to handle, finely chop both the pepper and the tomatillos.

To prepare the salsa verde, heat 2 tsp olive oil in a medium pot over medium-high heat until hot. Add the onion, and cook 2-3 minutes until softened. Add water, the chopped tomatillos, and the chopped pepper (to taste). Cook 2-3 minutes, until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in the juice of 1/2 lime.

To the bowl of quinoa, add the beans, all spices, and the juice of 1 lime. Drizzle with olive oil and stir to combine. Spread about 1/2 cup of the filling into the bottom of a baking dish. Spoon 1/4-1/2 cup of filling into each tortilla, roll tightly, then place seam down into the baking dish in a single layer. Pour the salsa verde over the enchiladas and top with cheese. Bake 13-15 minutes, until the cheese is melted and lightly browned. Garnish with remaining lime.

My Notes:
*Red quinoa was initially used in this recipe, and it does add some nice color to the dish. But I imagine just about any quinoa would work in a pinch. For additional flavor, try Chipotle or Ancho chile powder.

This dish was a little on the dry side, but I'm not entirely sure what I can add to the filling to make it more moist. Maybe more cheese? I also had way too much filling for the 4 tortillas that were originally part of this recipe, which is why I increased the number of tortillas compared to the original recipe.

Green Shakshuka

Green Shakshuka
Originally found at Blue Apron

1/2 pound tomatillos, husked and chopped
1/2 poblano pepper, seeds removed
1 yukon gold potato, chopped
1 eight ball squash, chopped into bite sized pieces
4 cloves garlic
1 Tbsp Za'atar
1 cup water
1 lemon
4 eggs
Feta cheese
Olive oil

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. On a sheet pan covered in foil, lay out chopped tomatillos in a single layer and drizzle with a small amount of olive oil. Place the poblano pepper skin side up on the pan and drizzle with olive oil. Roast in oven for 10-12 minutes, until tender. Once cool enough to handle, chop pepper into small pieces.

Meanwhile, in a medium pan (oven-proof, if you have one), heat small amount of oil over medium-high heat. Add potatoes and cook until light brown and tender. Add chopped squash and cook until tender. Add garlic and Za'atar seasoning. Stir to coat potatoes and squash well, cook 1-2 minutes until fragrant. Add chopped tomatillos, chopped pepper, and water. Cook, stirring occasionally, 6-8 minutes until thickened and saucy. Add juice of 1/2 lemon.

Create four small wells in the sauce. Gently crack one egg into each well. Cover pan and either move to the oven, or cook over medium heat for 6-8 minutes, or until egg whites are set and the yolks are cooked to your desired degree of doneness.

Top with feta and serve, garnishing with remaining lemon.

My Notes:
The first time I made shakshuka, I transferred the sauce to an oven-proof dish and finished making it in the oven. It took forever and a day. The second time I made it, I decided to just keep cooking it on the stovetop. And it took while, but it worked, especially after I put the lid on the dish. Now, that's how I make it. If you have a cast iron skillet, it'd probably work best if you put in the oven, but otherwise, I just prefer to use a saucepan to do it.

The eggs you can keep cooking however well you like. I am not a huge fan of poached eggs with runny centers, so I opted to cook them to soft-boiled consistency. The yolk is nice and creamy and crumbles well to mix with the sauce.

I also added a poblano pepper to this dish because traditional shakshuka is made with red peppers, and I like a little heat to my dishes. I happened to have half of a roasted pepper leftover from a previous dish I made, and I chopped it up and added it to the dish. It added a small amount of heat to the dish, and added to the overall green color.

The dish is pareve if you don't add the feta cheese at the end, so that's the category I'm listing it under.