Vegetarian

Makes 6 servings

Five o’clock Hell aka as “What’s for dinner tonight?” If this describes your life, then this is the recipe for you.

This quicka and easy skillet enchilada recipe is on the spicy side, so if spicy isn’t your thing you can eliminate the cracked pepper, choose mild enchilada sauce and use plain Monterey Jack or Havarti cheese. Love spicy? This will knock your socks off.

Cooking up a pot of barley, wheat berries or quinoa weekly and storing it in the fridge helps reduce your time in the kitchen as well as speed up any dinner prep. This recipe calls for leftover cooked barley, wheat berries or quinoa or even brown rice to get this show on the road ASAP.

1 cup cooked pot barley, wheat berries or quinoa or brown rice

One – 19 oz./540 mL can no salt added black beans, rinsed and well drained

1 ½ cups fresh cooked corn or frozen, thawed

1 Tbsp canola oil

1 small red onion, diced

6 cloves garlic, minced

1 large red pepper, diced

2 tsp chili powder

2 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp freshly cracked coarse black pepper

1 ¼ cups canned enchilada sauce, mild, medium or hot – see sidebar

2 cups/8 oz. packed grated jalapeño Monterey Jack or Havarti cheese, to save money you could reduce this to 1 cup

 

1. Heat a 12 or 14–inch oven proof skillet over medium heat, I used a cast iron frying pan, see picture. Add corn and fry until it starts to blacken, approximately 6-8 minutes.
2. Add oil, onion and garlic and sauté until the onion begins to soften, approximately 3-5 minutes.
3. Add red pepper and continue sautéing until the red pepper starts to soften, approximately 3-5 minutes. Just as they are starting to soften, add spices: chili powder, cumin, coriander and pepper.
4. Pour in enchilada sauce, black beans and cooked barley or whatever you decided to use and stir in well. Cover with a lid, reduce heat to low and simmer for 8-10 minutes or until heated through. Meanwhile preheat oven to 350°F.
5. Remove lid and sprinkle with the cheese. Place in oven, uncovered, and let the cheese melt, it takes about 10 minutes. Remove from oven, let sit for 5 minutes and serve.

 

Makes 6 servings

One serving with cooked barley = 1/6 of the recipe

Per Serving: 357 Calories, 15.7 g Total Fat, 3.7 g Saturated Fat, 0 g Trans Fat, 13 mg Cholesterol, 474 mg Sodium, 43 g Carbohydrate, 9.5 g Fibre, 3.5 g Sugars, 0.9 g Added Sugars, 15.7 g Protein, 610 mg Potassium

Carbohydrate Choice = 2 choices

 

Professional home economist tip:

• You can find enchilada sauce in most larger grocery stores. I buy my enchilada sauce at a Mexican Specialty Grocery Store in Kensington Market in Toronto or at my local large grocery store.
• Depending on the size of the can of enchilada sauce, freeze any leftover sauce in a separate container.
• Some sauces come in smaller bags, to make up the difference in volume feel free to add salsa.

 

This recipe is from my latest best selling cookbook Peace Love & Fibre (appetite Random House 2019)