Eat your vegetables: Veggie enchiladas

Americans aren’t eating enough vegetables. A diet high in fruits and vegetables is one of the keys to good health — helping to protect the body against all kinds of diseases, including heart disease, cancer, diabetes and more. But according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than half of Americans are consuming less than 1 cup of vegetables and 1.5 cups of fruit per day, and 87 percent of Americans are not eating the recommended daily amount of vegetables. In state-by-state comparisons, our own community here in Delaware is doing slightly worse than the national average.

It’s time to step it up, friends! Healthy habits at home and at work are your best defense against needing a trip to the hospital. As your expert, caring partners in health, we at Christiana Care want to help you make a difference in your life and your family’s life, and build a healthier community. What better way than to refocus on every mother’s advice: Eat  your vegetables.

This is the second in a series of recipes that we hope will teach you some delicious, fun ways to get more vegetables into your diet. We hope you find a few recipes that you like enough to make them weekly staples. Let us know your favorites! For more help in planning your family meals, visit ChooseMyPlate.gov.

Veggie enchiladas

These delicious, cheesy enchiladas are a snap to make, low in sodium and packed with vegetables. Chipotle pepper adds a smoky heat to the sauce that balances nicely with the sweet corn, beans and earthy mushrooms. Half a chipotle pepper will add a mild heat, while a whole pepper will be closer to medium heat. If you prefer a spicier enchilada, add a small amount of adobo sauce to the filling, but watch the added sodium content and heat — a little goes a very long way.

Ingredients

Enchilada sauce

Enchilada filling

Directions

Enchilada sauce

1. Remove chipotle pepper from adobo sauce and cut in half. Scrape out all seeds and discard. Finely chop ½ or whole pepper into a paste.

2. In a saucepan over medium heat, whisk together tomato paste and tomato sauce. Add chipotle pepper, chili powder, cumin powder, garlic powder, and onion powder. Whisk well to combine. Add chicken broth and bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Season to taste with salt. Turn off heat and set aside until ready to assemble enchiladas.

Enchilada filling

1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. Heat olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add red onion and sauté until beginning to soften, 4-5 minutes.

2. As onion cooks, remove gills and stem from portobellos. Chop cap and stem and add to the onions. Continue to cook until mushrooms have released their liquid and softened. Add cumin powder and frozen corn kernels to sauté pan. Stir well and cook until corn is heated through.

3. Remove sauté pan from heat and add rinsed and drained pinto beans and fresh cilantro. Stir to combine. Allow to cool slightly and stir in ½ cup shredded cheese.

4. Pour ¾ cup enchilada sauce over the bottom of a 13 × 9 × 2 baking dish.

5. Prepare tortillas in two batches. Place 6 tortillas on a dry baking sheet. Bake in 400° oven for 3 ½ minutes. Immediately remove tortillas from baking sheet and fill with a rounded ¼ cup of filling. Roll tortillas and place them seam side down in prepared baking dish. Repeat with remaining tortillas and filling.

6. Pour leftover enchilada sauce over rolled tortillas, covering them completely. Sprinkle ½ cup shredded cheese over the top and bake for 20-25 minutes (longer if filling and sauce have completely cooled) or until cheese has melted and enchiladas are heated through.

Serves 6

Serving size: 2 enchiladas

Nutrition

Enchilada sauce

Enchiladas