Enchilada Sauce-mm, mm good

The change of season almost always inspires me to do a lot of cookin'. So last week I made my one of my favorite dishes--enchiladas. Of course the beautiful anaheims in the store also helped inspire me. The key to this recipe is the sauce.

SAUCE:
5 anaheim peppers roasted and chopped
1 sweet red roasting pepper roasted and chopped
2 fresh tomatoes chopped
1 white or yellow onion chopped
2 tsps (or more) cumin
salt to taste
2-4 cloves minced of garlic
olive oil

Broil peppers in the oven on low broil. I think it took about 7 minutes on each side. You want the skin on the peppers to brown and bubble so that you can easily remove it. Once they are good and bubbly on both sides let cool to touch. You can then remove the skin and cut off the tops. I like to leave the seeds in for extra heat. Chop peppers. Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until soft. Add peppers and saute about 5 minutes. Then add chopped tomatoes, salt and cumin. Simmer for about 10-15 minutes. Once it's all nice and cooked down I put it in a bowl and use my new favorite kitchen tool--the immersion blender. This thing is so great. You can also use a regular blender. Blend until smooth and pour back into pan.

FILLING:
I made two types of filling. The fillings are adapted from recipes in the cookbook The Enchanted Broccoli Forest.

Avocado/Cashew
2-3 ripe avocados
juice of one lemon
1/2 cup sour cream or yogurt
1/2 cup cream cheese
1/4-1/2 cup chopped cashews (especially good if you toast them lightly in a cast iron skillet)

Mash it all together. You can adjust the sour cream/yogurt and cream cheese to meet your preferred consistency.

Squash, onion and cheese
2-3 squash and zucchini sauteed ( I used a lemon squash and a zucchini)
1 onion sauteed
1/2 tsp thyme
salt and pepper to taste
medium sharp cheddar cheese or monterrey jack cheese grated (about 1 lb)

PUT IT TOGETHER:
I used blue corn tortillas for these enchiladas. The fillings above made about two big pans of enchiladas. Before you start filling and placing them in the pan, put a light layer of sauce on the bottom of the pan. To soften the tortillas I like to lightly heat them on both sides in a pan with a little bit of oil. It makes them much easier to roll.

Once all enchiladas are rolled cover in the sauce and if desired cover in cheese for extra deliciousness. Back covered at 375 for 30 minutes. Let cool for about 5-10 minutes before serving.
MMM good.

yours in some local eating,
Maddie