I made a pot of black beans last week that were so tasty on their own but I wanted to utilize them in another easy recipe. Black Bean & Kale Enchiladas are extremely simple to throw together and if you make the enchilada sauce beforehand, they only take a few minutes to assemble and another 20-25 minutes in the oven.
The enchilada sauce has a deep, flavor, made of onions, garlic, jalapeño a can of tomatoes and chipotle pepper. First, the onion, garlic and jalapeño cook under a broiler for a few minutes, next they go into a small saucepan with the tomatoes and chipotle and cook for 15 minutes. Last but not least, the sauce gets pureed in a blender until it becomes beautiful and smooth. That’s it!
If you want to add a little more flavor serve the enchiladas with Magic Green Sauce. And maybe start off with a Smoky Paloma.
Black Bean & Kale Enchiladas
- Total Time: 60 minutes
- Yield: 4 Servings 1x
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
The recipe for the sauce is for a double recipe. Freeze it or double the enchiladas!
Ingredients
Enchilada Sauce
- 1 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped in 1-2 inch chunks
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled
- 1 jalapeno
- 1 28 ounce can crushed or diced tomatoes
- 1–2 chipotle peppers in adobe sauce
Enchiladas
- 1 large bunch lacinito kale, regular kale or spinach (use twice as much spinach)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 onion, finely diced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- A few grindings of fresh pepper
- 1 cup black beans from scratch or from a can, drained of all liquid
- 8 corn tortillas
- 1 cup shredded cheese (I used a combo of sharp English cheddar and jack)
Instructions
Sauce
- Preheat broiler.
- Place onions, whole garlic cloves and jalapeño onto a small baking sheet, sprinkle 1 tablespoon of olive oil on the vegetables and mix with your hands. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Place under broiler, 6-8 inches from the flame. Cook until starting to color (5 minutes), toss and cook a few more minutes.
- Remove from oven, put into a small saucepan along with the tomatoes, chipotle and 1/4 cup of water. Cook for 15 minutes.
- Let cool slightly then place in blender and mix until very smooth. You could pass through a sieve if you want a very refined smooth sauce.
Assembling the enchiladas
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Add 2 inches of water to a large skillet with deep sides and bring to a boil.
- Remove thick ribs from the kale and tear into 2-3 inch pieces. Cook in boiling water for 5 minutes then drain. Place pan back on medium flame, heat the oil then add the onions and saute for 5 minutes. Add kale and cook for 5-10 more minutes until leaves are very soft. Remove from heat.
- Place a few spoonfuls of sauce into the bottom of baking dish.
- Layout a tortilla then fill with a few spoonfuls of beans and a few spoonfuls of greens in the center of the tortilla. Roll up tortilla and place seam side down in the dish with the sauce. Repeat with the rest of the tortillas.
- Pour additional sauce over the tortillas, cover with cheese, then bake for 2-25 minutes until cheese is melted and bubbling.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Category: Main Course
- Method: Stovetop & Oven
- Cuisine: Mexican
Keywords: enchiladas, kale, black beans, cheese, Mexican food, vegetarian
2 Comments
We loved this meal but did need to tweak the recipe a bit. We doubled the recipe to have left overs and the jalapeños overwhelmed the flavors, but that’s no fault of the recipe since peppers vary in heat one to another. We ended up adding a can of enchilada sauce to the blender and then freezing some of the extra sauce. We layered ingredients instead of rolling to save some time. With 2 of us working it took more than an hour to prep, so I don’t agree with the time estimate. But it was a delicious dinner.
★★★★
Hi Lisa,
Thanks so much for the feedback. When I was doing this recipe I couldn’t decide if I wanted to assemble it like you did or roll them. I think this recipe works either way. Yes, on the peppers, they vary so much! I just do a little taste test to check how spicy they are and start slow. You can always add more! I will review the prep time as well. I tend to underestimate that sometimes.
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