Pineapple-Black Bean Enchiladas with Tomatillo-Basil Green Sauce

‘What an odd recipe!’ you might be thinking to yourself. Well, despite an odd name this dish is delicious. ‘But why pineapple and basil?’ you may ask. Foodie Fights! I would reply. Yes everyone, my very first blogging competition!

As I’ve already proven on this blog, I love enchiladas, and although it was not the first dish my mind jumped to for the competition they turned out better than I could have expected. I have been wanting to try making green enchiladas for a while and basil seemed like the perfect way to make the sauce extra green! Sadly, of course, I wasn’t thinking when I added chili powder to the sauce, so it’s not really that green, but the lightness and spice of a green enchilada sauce is there, and this time it has the added flavor of basil. Although I was a little nervous about just throwing basil in willy-nilly it really did upgrade enchiladas to a summer dish and it complemented the sauce really well.

And that other ingredient, pineapple? Well, you wouldn’t normally put pineapple in enchiladas either, but when my dear friend Sarah swore by a recipe for pineapple-black bean enchiladas I knew I had a match made in heaven. Enchiladas are sometimes a time-consuming dish to make, but they aren’t difficult. The flavor combination of the black beans, pineapple, red pepper, and onion was delicious, the softness of everything and the combining flavors of the peppers, onion, and pineapple together was really surprisingly wonderful, especially when compared to the bright flavor of the sauce.

The sauce does take some time to make, but you could make it on a weekend and refrigerate or even freeze it until needed. Green sauces keep color really well if/when frozen, so both the tomatillos and basil would maintain their lovely verdant appeal even if you made the sauce in advance.

Pineapple-Black Bean Enchiladas with Tomatillo-Basil Green Sauce
adapted from here and here

Ingredients

Green Enchilada Sauce
1 pound peeled and washed tomatillos
1 medium white onion (coarsely chopped)
1/4 cup olive oil
4-6 cloves garlic (minced)
1 1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 tablespoon mild chili powder (next time I would use spicy roasted chiles to achieve spice and maintain green color)
1 4oz can diced green chilies
4 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup packed basil leaves

Pineapple-Black Bean Enchiladas
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 large yellow onion (chopped)
1 medium red bell pepper (chopped)
1 medium pineapple (peeled and finely diced)
1 15oz can black beans (drained)
1 4oz can chopped green chiles
8 whole wheat flour tortillas (taco size)
3 cups shredded Monterey Jack or Pepper Jack cheese
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro/basil mixture (for garnish)
1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream (for garnish)

Method

Sauce
In a medium sauce pan over medium heat, place the olive oil, onions and garlic and cook until soft. Add the broth, tomatillos, cumin, chili powder (or spicy roasted chilies) and green chilies and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to a simmer and cover, continue cooking until the tomatillos are soft (about 30 minutes). Cool until room temperature. At this point, you may refrigerate sauce for later or freeze. When ready, process sauce with blender, food processor, or with an immersion blender. Right when you are about the blend the sauce add the basil leaves and blend sauce until smooth.

Enchiladas
Preheat oven to 350°F.

Remove the edible flesh from the pineapple and dice it fine. To this bowl add the black beans and green chilies. Let the flavors meld while you dice the onion and pepper.

Saute the onion and pepper with the oil in a medium skillet over medium heat until they are tender and the onion is translucent. Add the onion/pepper mix to the pineapple/black bean mixture.

Assembly
Pour a small amount of sauce into the bottom of a 13×9 baking dish so that the enchiladas don’t stick to the bottom of the pan. Taking your tortillas one at a time, dip them in the remaining sauce, spoon them full of the pineapple/black bean filling, roll it up, and place it seam side down into the pan. Repeat until pan is full. Pour enough remaining sauce into the pan to submerge the enchiladas. Top with shredded cheese and bake for 30 minutes or until bubbly. Garnish with sour cream, fresh cilantro or basil, lime wedges, or whatever else you’d like!

Enjoy!

The Foodie Fights Competition has begun! Vote below!

Who Won Battle Pineapple Basil?(surveys)

Chipotle White Bean Casserole

This chipotle white bean casserole is a delicious and inexpensive dish that is chock full of color and flavor. The spice of the chipotle helps disguise the kale (for those who are skiddish about leafy greens) and adds a whole other dimension to this already flavorful and textural dish.

It is a dish with a few components, but the can all be prepared ahead, even the night before, and the use of canned beans instead of dried really speeds up the process. If you make all the components beforehand this can be a forty-five minute meal with very little prep time! Serve with a crunchy green salad and you have an amazing weeknight meal!

Chipotle White Bean Casserole
Adapted from 101 Cookbooks

Ingredients
For the Chipotle-Tomato Sauce
2 TBS extra-virgin olive oil
2 big pinches of red pepper flakes
2 pinches of salt
1 large clove garlic, chopped
1 14-ounce can crushed tomatoes
1 tsp dried oregano leaves
1 1/2 TBS adobo sauce from a can of chipotle peppers

For the Cilantro Pesto
1 medium clove of garlic
1/3 cup fresh cilantro
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
big pinch of salt

1 19oz can white/cannellini beans
1 19oz can garbanzo beans
heaping 2/3 cup chopped and de-stemmed kale or chard
1 1/2 cups cotija or other salty, hard, crumbly cheese (like feta)
1 slice wheat bread, crumbled and dried out in the toaster or regular oven

Method
For the Chipotle-Tomato Sauce:
Place the 2 tablespoons olive oil, red pepper flakes, couple pinches of salt, and chopped garlic into a cold medium saucepan. Stir while you heat the saucepan over medium-high heat. Saute 45 seconds or so until everything is fragrant – you don’t want the garlic to brown. Stir in the tomatoes and the oregano and heat to a gentle simmer. Remove from heat and stir in the adobo sauce. Taste the sauce (careful not to burn yourself!). Adjust seasoning to make it as spicy/smoky/garlicky/etc as you like.

For the Cilantro Pesto:
Combine the clove of garlic and cilantro in a food processor or blender. Pulse while you drizzle in the olive oil (you could also do this by hand in a mortar and pestle). Season with a bit of salt and set aside.

For the Bread Crumbs:
Tear the piece of wheat bread into small pieces and then rub those between your fingers in order to turn it into crumbs. Place on a baking sheet in either a toaster oven or the regular oven, baked at 250 until dry (about 10 minutes).

To assemble and bake:
Preheat the oven to 425°F. In a 9×13 baking pan (metal or glass) toss the drained beans with the tomato sauce and the kale. Sprinkle with the crumbled cheese and bake in the top-third of the oven for twenty-five to forty minutes, the key is for the cheese to start browning and any visible beans to get crusty (especially at the edges). Remove from oven and let sit for about ten minutes. Top the beans with the breadcrumbs and just before serving drizzle with the cilantro pesto.