Like most of our recipes, this is pretty simple. as far as ingredients go. There is a little more work involved than on some dishes, but it’s worth it. This one of our favorite vegetarian recipes. Don’t let the word “squash” turn you away. These are tasty enough to be worth the effort. You won’t miss the meat.

Also, I’ve gotten a little “loose” with the ingredients on this one. That’s kind of how I cook anyway (not a lot of measuring), but with these, I figure you should be able to adjust them to whatever you like. You’d have to steer far off course to “break” this recipe, so have fun and experiment a little!

They’re even better tasting if you make your own enchilada sauce.

My original inspiration for these came from the Well Plated website.

Ingredients

• A few Tablespoons of EVOO or Avocado Oil
• One medium onion, chopped however you like
• 6-8 cups Butternut Squash, cut into small cubes (~1/2″ to 3/4″)
• 1 T minced garlic
• 1 small lime, ends cut off and cut in half
• 1 tsp Chipotle Chili Powder
• 1/2 tsp Ground Cumin
• Salt & Pepper
• 1 can of Refried Beans
• 2 Cups of Red Enchilada Sauce
• 1-2 Cups Shredded Mexican blend cheese
• 6 taco-sized tortillas
• Optional:
  • Cooked rice
  • Cashew Sour Cream
  • Salsa
  • Whatever else you want to put in these

Instructions

Make the Filling

• Saute the onions in the oil over medium heat for 1-2 minutes
• Add the Butternut Squash and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally
• Add the garlic, chili powder and Cumin
• Add a little salt and some pepper, depending on your tastes
• Destroy the lime over the mixture–here’s how:
  • cut one half-lime in your hand and squeeze it to “juice” it without hosing down your kitchen
  • then gouge the flesh with your thumb/thumbnail to break it apart
  • you may need to squeeze it a time or two to get more juice out
  • keep ravaging the lime until most of the flesh has been separated into the pan
  • repeat for the other half of the lime
• Continue to saute the mixture for another few minutes until the squash chunks are softened, but not mushy.
• Remove from the heat and set aside

Prepare the Pan

I use a 9″ x 13″ (3″ deep) clear glass pan for this.

• Lightly coat the pan with oil
• Coat the bottom of the pan with a thin layer of Enchilada Sauce
• Pre-Heat the oven to 325 degrees

Assemble the Enchiladas

• Build your assembly line while the filling cools:
  • Set out a cutting board that is bigger than the tortillas you are using
  • If the tortillas are refrigerated, warm them a bit
  • Set the tortillas on a plate for easy access
  • Open the can of Refried Beans
  • Put the (optional) rice in a bowl with a spoon ready for spooning.
  • Pour some shredded cheese into a bowl
  • If you’re putting anything else in these, get that ready, too.
  • Finally, put the enchilada mix in a bowl or set the pan nearby (if you can safely do so)
• Lay out a tortilla and spread a good-sized dollop of Refried Beans down the center of the tortilla, but not quite to the edges
• Spoon two heaping serving spoons worth of the enchilada mix along the bean trail
• Spoon some rice and/or whatever else you’re going to put in there, but don’t overload it too much.
• Sprinkle some cheese on there
• Roll up the tortilla and place it with the seam on the bottom so it doesn’t unroll
• Repeat until the pan is full (probably 6, unless you skimped on the filling)
• Carefully pour the rest of the enchilada sauce over the finished enchiladas so that very little tortilla is uncovered
• Liberally sprinkle more cheese over the enchiladas

Bake It!

• Bake the enchiladas for 30 minutes, uncovered

Ingestion Suggestions

Top with Cashew Sour Cream, sliced Avocado and salsa. Or any combination of those. Or none of them.

We use Refried Beans, but most of the recipes like this call for Black Beans, so I’m sure that works fine, too. In that case, you would add the beans to the enchilada mix (we put the refried beans directly in the tortilla).

Also, the cheese is the only thing that keeps this from being a vegan recipe!

If you want things to be more spicy, you have some options:

• Add Chipotle Chili Peppers, from a can, to the enchiladas
• Add some chopped Jalapeno Pepper to the enchilada mix
• Increase the amount of Pepper and/or Chipotle Chili Powder to the enchilada mix
• Use a spicier chili in the enchilada mix