Avocado Enchiladas

There are no words to describe the greatness of this dish. I knew the minute I saw the recipe that I had to make them as soon as possible. Basically it takes two of my favorite things--guacamole and enchiladas and makes them into one fabulous meal.

I also liked that this was a meatless meal. We had it the night after we had eaten steaks for dinner, so it was a perfect counterpoint to that. This meal is a definite keeper.


Recipe (from Gillian's Goodies blog)
Ingredients:
2 ripe avocados
1/8 red onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
Lime juice
1/4 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
1/2 tomato, seeded and diced
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/4 tsp. cumin
Salt and black pepper to taste
2 flour tortilla
Enchilada sauce
A little grated sharp Cheddar or Monterrey Jack cheese
Additional cilantro leaves

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a glass baking dish with cooking spray. Smush up the avocado in a glass bowl. Add the onion, garlic, cilantro, cumin, tomatoes, jalapeno, lime/lemon juice, and salt and pepper. Mix together as you would if you were making guacamole (um, this really is a guacamole!)

2. Spoon the avocado mixture into the tortillas and roll them up. Place tortillas in the prepared baking dish and cover with enchilada sauce. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake in a 350-degree oven for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with additional cilantro just before serving.


Sissy's Variations:Like it says above, this is just guacamole, so I made my usual. I decided to make my own enchilada sauce so I could control things like sodium (recipe below). I also used corn tortillas because that's how we make them in Texas! I used 2% milk sharp cheddar, so it wasn't as pretty when it melted, but it was still really good.

A trick for easy to roll corn tortillas: make sure you fry them first. Another trick: fake fry them. In my continuing effort to make things "lighter," but still wanting to have the same effect, I discovered that cooking spray is a girl's best friend for this. I used to do them on in a pan, but one night while making tacos, I tried putting them on baking sheets sprayed with cooking oil. A couple of minutes on either side (depending on how crispy you want them; for these, they just need to be pliable).

Red Enchilada Sauce (from Cooking Light)Ingredients
1/2 cup low-salt chicken broth, divided
3/4 cup finely chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 (28-ounce) can tomato purée (I used crushed tomatoes)

Preparation
Heat 1/4 cup chicken broth in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; cook for 5 minutes or until tender and liquid evaporates. Add the remaining broth, chili powder, and remaining ingredients; stir well. Partially cover, and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.