the whole enchilada (pie)

it’s in essence more like “general-tex-mex-component pie, covered in enchilada sauce”, but let’s not split hairs. a variation of this recipe hit the blog-o-sphere a while back and we decided to get rid of the stuff we don’t like (or have on the spur of he moment) and replace them with things we do like/have. we’ve made this maybe 3 or 4 times since and played around with ingredients and tweaked our methods. this recipe is more or less the result.


enchilada pie
feel free to sub out and add other ingredients to the layers

1 can of corn
1 can of ro-tel (or other tomato/chile mix)
1 can of black beans
1 can of enchilada sauce
½ small onion, chopped
1 cup grated cheese on hand
4 tortillas (soft taco sized, not the enormous burrito size unless you have a large cake/pie pan)
⅔ cup guacamole
cilantro
fajita seasoning
4 eggs

serves 4, or 2 with leftovers.

preheat oven to 350. drain corn, discard liquid. drain black beans and ro-tel, catching the liquid in a cup to set aside. combine corn, black beans, and ro-tel in a saucepan and heat. while the bean mixture is heating, take the 4 tortillas and toast them. you can do this straight over a gas flame burner with tongs or in a cast iron pan (don't use oil).

layer the bean mixture, guacamole, onion, cilantro/fajita seasoning, and cheese

repeat so that there are 3 layers, like so:

tortilla
layer
tortilla
layer
tortilla
layer
tortilla

cover with enchilada sauce (you probably won't need the whole can. mix it in with the black bean/ro-tel juice and combine with the leftover bean mixture and use for tacos or chili tomorrow night). sprinkle on some cheese and onion for flare.

bake for about 10-15 minutes. there's no meat in this version so it's just about melting and heating. when it's done the enchilada sauce will bubble. right before serving, fry up each egg (one per person) with a little oil and place on top of pie slice. we like them over hard with broken yolks. then, i usually put a little cilantro on for garnish.

voila!

quick?
check.

healthy?
the guacamole may be higher in fat, but it's good avacado based. also, the recipe is easily vegan-ized.

cheap?
the most expensive part of the meal is probably the guacamole, but it's by no means a compulsory ingredient. If you crave some creaminess, sour cream is a good substitute. the guacamole we use is organic "wholly guacamole" that we buy from publix made from haas avacados and has no preservatives. also, it's ridiculously tasty. we pick up a package just about every time we go publix shopping, even though it's considered a "luxury" item for college kids like us at $3.69 a package. it can be frozen and keeps fairly well when kept airtight in a sandwich bag, though the edges tend to oxidize a little. but since the rest of the recipe is mostly canned, it's a fairly inexpensive meal.

and a good "this-week-i'm-too-busy-to-cook-anything-that-requires-much-effort" standby. and on that note, i have an abstract to write.

<3>

d's favorite food group.

okay, not really.
but that boy loves his pizza. it's been ingrained in him since he was a little one.

when asked why he loves his mother (for a mother's day assignment in grade school), he replied something along the lines of, "i love my mom because she takes me to barnaby's to get pizza". precious.


tonight, we made a lovely spinach ricotta pizza with vodka sauce. it was a quick fix, using things in the fridge that we wanted to utilize before they spoiled, specifically:

• 1/4 jar of vodka sauce leftover from forever ago
• 1/4 container of ricotta cheese left over from the gratin (i'll post as soon as i perfect it)
• a decent size plastic container of organic, local spinach from ward's

i lightly boiled the spinach in (hardly any) water with a dash of salt, then sautéed it with garlic before putting it on the pizza.

the rest of the ingredients we had around the kitchen. olive oil, garlic, basil, and a giant bag of mozzarella we bought in bulk.

the dough was bought from publix (they keep it in the bakery, usually with the cakes. sometimes you have to ask for it from someone behind the counter.) and baked on a pizza stone. pizza stones are a wonderful thing. i had no idea that such things ever existed outside of hard core pizzerias, but when d and i moved in together he made sure that he dusted his off.

it arguably follows all three of the goals.
1. you can't beat organic, local spinach for freshness
2. it's much better than delivery or microwave pizza, in both taste and good-for-you-ness
3. the ingredients didn't exceed $10, maybe even $7

fun fact: the most expensive pizza created was a $2,745.00 priced valentine pizza topped with smoked salmon, medallions of venison, edible gold, cognac marinated lobster, and champagne soaked caviar. (see #3, above.)

the finished product:


<3
k

here's the deal.

i like to cook things. i like to take pictures.
on the internet, lots of people cook things and then take pictures of them.

and philosophize.

a lot of times these foods are made with meat, truffle oil, and olives.
these are all things that i can't reconcile, afford, or have a taste for.

therefore, i am about to embark on such a journey.

my goals: healthy, cheap, and fresh.

i don't expect things to work all of the time, i don't expect for there to be batteries in the house at any given time (and therefore i don't expect to photograph foods assembled at said times), i don't expect to hit all 3 goals in every dish.

i do expect to learn. lots.
thanks for coming along.

<3
k