Black Bean and Spinach Enchiladas (Vegan)

I gotta say Mexican food is my go to easy dinner almost always. These babies are so delicious you won't even miss the cheese! Honest! ;)

What you'll need:

Enchiladas 

2 15oz cans of black beans

1 small carton of crimini mushrooms, sliced 

1 large onion, diced

3 cups of fresh spinach or kale

10 flour shells (I have found this wonderful kind at walmart that are made from only 5 ingredients. They are fresh so they must be cooked first, but trust me this extra step is worth it! You can find them in a yellow package in the Mexican cheese section. The brand is Tortilla Land.)

2-3 tbsp of nutritional yeast

2-4 cloves of garlic, minced

2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil 

Sea salt and pepper

Sauce

1 30oz can of tomato purée 

3 tbsp of chili powder

2 tbsp of cocoa powder

1/4 tsp cumin

1/2 cup of water

Sea salt and pepper 

Optional: pumpkin seeds sprinkled on top. This gives a nice texture. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

So first, if you bought the fresh tortillas start cooking those. If you have a helper this would be a great task for them to help with. Caleb is usually my tortilla flipper.

Next in a skillet heat your evoo over medium heat. Add diced onion, sliced mushrooms, and minced garlic. Season with sea salt and pepper. Cook this mix down until water is released and cooked off.

Meanwhile, in a sauce pan dump your tomato purée, chili powder, cocoa powder, cumin, water, and sea salt and pepper. Whisk this together and bring to a simmer over low heat. 

In a large bowl, empty your canned beans top with the 3 cups of spinach. Add the hot mushroom/onion mix to the bowl and sprinkle on the nutritional yeast. Toss this mix together. The heat from the sautéed veg will cause the spinach to wilt. 

In a large casserole dish cover the bottom with about 3/4 cup of your enchilada sauce. This helps to prevent the tortillas from sticking. Now start placing your tortillas down one at a time, and fill with about 1/2-3/4cup of the bean/spinach mix. Ladle a spoonful of the sauce over the mix. Then wrap it up and repeat. I never really measure this step. I just start throwing in some mix and sauce then wrap the shell around. Most of the time it works out to 10 enchiladas. After all the mix is used you should have just enough sauce left to  cover the top. Sprinkle on the pumpkin seeds at this time, if you'd like. I also sprinkled on some more nutritional yeast. Why not?!

Place your enchiladas in the preheated oven, and bake for 45 minutes. Once removed, allow the dish to cool. The more cooling you allow the better the enchiladas will hold together when served. 

This one certainly had no complaints, and he can be a pretty tough customer. 

Enjoy!