Quinoa and spinach tomatillo enchiladas

This one is an easy and flexible one for all my lovely friends who have dietary restrictions or maybe just want to eat better.  Even better yet, you can easily make this into a non-vegan enchilada recipe (for my cheese fiends out there) and also into a non-vegetarian enchilada recipe.  It's a crowd pleaser, particularly for those of you who like a little heat.  Who knows, you may even trick your family into eating more vegetables than they're used to.

Quinoa and spinach tomatillo enchiladas
(Adapted from Centered Chef)

Quinoa ingredients:
2 cups of water
1 teaspoon of salt
1 cup of quinoa (uncooked)

Enchilada filling ingredients:
Cooked quinoa (see above)
1 tablespoon oil
1 cup onions (chopped)
1 garlic clove (minced)
12 oz chopped spinach (frozen)
12 oz canned beans (drained and rinsed)
12 corn tortillas
Tomatillo salsa (see below)
Mexican blend cheese (exclude for a vegan recipe)

Tomatillo salsa ingredients:
28 oz can of tomatillos
3 serrano chiles (seeded and chopped)
1 small onion
Handful of fresh cilantro
dash salt
pinch sugar

Note: This recipe will make extra enchilada filling which you can turn into another meal by either repeating the recipe again or being creative and doing your own thing. It also freezes very well.

Wash and rinse quinoa well using a strainer and a bowl. Drain well. Bring water to boil in a small saucepan, add salt, add quinoa, turn off heat, cover. Allow quinoa to cook in hot water for about 10 minutes. Uncover and fluff with a fork. Here I used multi-coloured quinoa which has a different water to quinoa ratio so make sure to adjust for whatever type you end up using.

Preheat oven to 375F.

Heat oil in a skillet, add onions and a pinch of salt. Cook stirring until onions become translucent. Stir in minced garlic and cook just until very lightly browned and fragrant. Add spinach and cook until wilted. Stir in beans (I used black beans here but you can pick your preference of bean) and cooked quinoa. Combine everything and stir together until heated thoroughly. Remove from heat.

Pour a thin layer of tomatillo salsa on the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish. Heat tortillas on a skillet until soft and pliable. If you want to cheat like I did, buy the super soft tortillas and you can skip this step. Fill each tortilla one at a time with a spoonful of quinoa mixture, roll up tightly and stack seam side down. If you are adding cheese, add your desired amount of cheese into the enchilada with the quinoa mixture. Bake until tortillas become crispy and harden. Pour tomatillo salsa and bake a few minutes more until salsa thickens, about 20 minutes. 

If you're impatient like me, you will pour the tomatillo salsa on before baking the tortillas and then sprinkle an abundance of Mexican cheese on top and bake for 20 minutes or until the cheese is all melty and bubbly. Now dig in!

To make the salsa: Drain the tomatillos from the can and add to food processor with the rest of the salsa ingredients. Feel free to add more / take away serrano chiles based on your heat tolerance. Blend together well.