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Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Black Bean, Corn and Zucchini Enchiladas

Near the end of the month, when most of my grocery budget (or all of it!) is gone, I try to find inexpensive meals that are still full of healthy, real food. Veggie and Bean stuffed enchiladas are delicious and a great way to stretch your budget. They are really filling and flavorful, and no one misses the meat. They are also gluten free. I served this last night with a side of cooked carrots. I included the cost breakdown. I make my own enchilada sauce, so it's really inexpensive. If you're purchasing it from the store, you may spend a little more.



Cost:
Tortillas: 98 cents
2 Zucchini: 25 cents
1/2 pack corn: 50 cents
Black beans: $1
Enchilada sauce: .50 - $1.50
Cheese: $1
Total: $4.23 for 8 (or more) servings
Cost per serving: 53 cents!

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp butter
2 cups diced zucchini
1 (10-ounce) package frozen whole-kernel corn
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
3 cups Enchilada Sauce, divided
Cooking spray
20 corn tortillas
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
Sour cream (optional)


Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 cups zucchini and corn; sauté for 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Remove from heat, and stir in beans and 1 1/2 cups cheese.

Heat 1 cup Enchilada Sauce in a saucepan over medium heat. Heat tortilla in sauce until hot, about 45 seconds on each side. Spoon about 1/4 cup zucchini mixture down center of 1 tortilla and roll up. Place seam-side down in baking dish. Repeat procedure with remaining tortillas, and zucchini mixture. Heat more enchilada sauce as needed.

Top enchiladas with any remaining enchilada sauce and cheese.

Bake at 350° for 20 minutes. Top with sour cream and serve.
(This recipe is adapted from Cooking Light.)

Notes: I make my own enchilada sauce ahead of time and can it. I like knowing exactly what's in there, and it's more cost effective too.
I also make the beans ahead of time and can those. If you're really ambitious, you can soak the beans the night before, let them cook slowly all day, and then add them to the enchiladas to retain the most vitamins. That's what I do, only I add the step of pressure canning them and putting them in my pantry so I can use them whenever I need them.

This post is part of Two For Tuesdays and Real Food Wednesdays.

10 comments:

  1. Yum! This sounds delicious. We are maniacs about grilling corn on the barbecue in the summer when the corn is so cheap and it would be so good to grill a few ears of corn and add grilled corn to the enchiladas. I must try this recipe soon!

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  2. Chanelle! this looks divine! I adore the combination of zuccini and corn and black beans and I usually do that mixture as a side dish, but never thought to add it as an enchilada stuffing! Please consider sharing this at the Two for Tuesday Recipe Blog Hop! The linky is open all week and I know folks would love to see this recipe! Alex

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  3. this sounds wonderful and we are so having these on next weeks menu!

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  4. Bon Appetit, everyone! Alex, I linked up to your carnival. Thanks for the reminder. I had planned to originally and the day got away from me...

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  5. @Charlyn, I love the idea of using grilled corn in these. I bet that would be soooo good! I'll have to try that next time!

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  6. These sound delicious!! Awesome...thanks so much for bringing them to Two for Tuesdays this week =)

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  7. We had this tonight and loved it! Thanks, I've been looking to add more meat free meals to our menu.

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  8. I love that you added zucchini to enchiladas - such a great idea. And the corn and bean combo is of course a yummy classic! Thanks for adding this to two for tuesday!

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  9. I made this for me and my husband tonight. It was great! I don't know why but the tortillas keps falling apart so I just layered it like a casserole. It was great. Thank you for the yummy recipe.

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  10. @ Lisa, glad you liked them! Usually the tortillas will break if they don't get hot enough. You just need to leave them in the sauce a little longer and then they should roll up just fine for next time.

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