Nutritious Meals at Home: Enchiladas

I have long been told that healthy meals are boring, bland, and take too much effort. Nothing is far from the truth! I love healthy meals that are full of flavor and keep my hands fairly free as a parent of two young boys. This meal fits my healthy, simple, and flavorful requirements. This enchilada dinner is also complex enough to serve at a dinner party as it mimics enchiladas served in a restaurant.

Meal components:

• Chicken Enchiladas
  • In all of my enchiladas, I pack them full of diced tomatoes (2 cups), onions (1/2 cup), peppers (1/4 cup), and black beans (1 cup). I love the flavor combination when seasoned with chili powder (1 tablespoon), cumin (1/2 teaspoon), and fresh diced garlic (2 cloves). This serves well as a vegetarian enchilada or I can add meat. In this batch of enchiladas, I did add free-range, locally raised chicken (2 cups cubed).
• Homemade Enchilada Sauce
  • This enchilada sauce was a new recipe and took the longest to prepare, but was well worth the time invested! The following is how it was modified to suit my family’s tastes. Chili powder (3 tablespoons), organic wheat flour (3 tablespoons), cocoa powder (1 teaspoon), crushed garlic (1 clove), salt (1/4 teaspoon), oregano (1 teaspoon), water (3 cups), tomato sauce (1 cup). Combine all dry ingredients in a small bowl. Add enough water to make a thin paste (approximately 1/4 – 1/2 cup). Pour into pan and add the rest of the water. Cook over medium-high heat while stirring constantly until thickened. Add in tomato sauce and warm through. For those who do not like spicy foods, cut the chili powder in half and double the tomato sauce. 
• Brown Rice with Tomatoes
  • I use organic brown rice and follow the instructions on the package. I will reduce the amount of water just slightly to accommodate 1/4 – 1/2 cup diced tomatoes and 1 clove of crushed garlic.
• Refried Beans
  • I keep dried beans on hand and make a batch to accommodate my weekly meal plan as needed. I had soft pinto beans ready to blend into refried beans (sans seasoning).
• Tortilla Chips
  • I purchase organic, non GMO tortilla chips from a local store and love them. I’m very particular about the corn products we ingest. This is no different.

Upon filling the tortillas and placing them in a lightly greased casserole dish, I poured the sauce on top and sprinkled 1/2 cup of shredded cheese on top. I baked them at 450 for 20 minutes until the sauce was bubbling and the cheese was melted.

I dished up one or two enchiladas for everyone and topped them with organic iceberg lettuce and added a dollop of sour cream. I took the rice and beans, setting them side by side and sprinkled a very small amount of cheese atop and spooned one teaspoon of enchilada sauce over the cheese. I added 5 or 6 tortilla chips to the plate to round off the meal.

In the end, my children had a fairly clean meal, filled with all the benefits of tomatoes, onions, peppers, and all the spices.

Michele L. Tune (aka Raw Juice Girl) is a freelance writer and blogger, with a focus on health and eco-friendly living topics. She loves garden-fresh produce and enjoys weaving live ingredients into fresh juices, smoothies, and meals. Incorporating raw foods and liquids helped her lose over 100 pounds several years ago. A newlywed, Michele’s husband brings his passion for gardening, fresh air, and exercise – particularly bicycle riding – to the table. Visit www.healingwithjuices.com to learn more.