Being 2,305 miles away from my childhood home and super tight-knit family during this whole pandemic hasn't been a cakewalk this (almost) first year living in Seattle.
As many of you know, last Summer after visiting the beautiful emerald city, my boyfriend and I decided 3 months later to pack up shop and road trip halfway across the country to relocate after being native Texans all our lives.
It has been such a wild and wonderful adventure that I'll be forever grateful and honestly I LOVE it out here! But we all know that saying, "you can miss something and not want it back" and during these quarantine days I've found myself missing the comforts of home (and really, authentic A+ Mexican food... for whatever reason, it is totally not a thing up here)
So while I don't have the cooking skills of my Abuela, or Rachel Ray or anyone for that matter who calls themself a chef - Every now and then I will put together a solid healthy recipe and it turns out a little better than decent.
For this particular recipe, I snagged it off Pinterest and just exchanged a couple of ingredients for choices I prefer/ choices with better quality ingredients.
To view the complete recipe that I cannot take credit for click the link above and see below for my personal ingredient substitutions.
For the enchiladas:
2 cups cubed butternut squash
1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed --> Here I substituted for whole black beans and soaked them overnight, the night before making this
¼ cup jarred salsa (any variety) --> I used a medium red salsa from Newmans Own
8 corn tortillas (or taco-sized tortillas of choice) --> I opted for grain-free Tortillas from Siete Foods, I actually used a variety of their almond flour, cassava flour, and chia cassava blend tortillas, personally I think the plain cassava is my favorite.
1 cup vegan cheese --> I used the Provolone flavored cheese made by Follow Your Heart
1 - 1 1/2 cups enchilada sauce
For the sauce:
2 tablespoons quinoa flour (or grain-based flour of choice) --> I used Almond Flour by Bob's Redmill
1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons cumin
½ teaspoon smoked paprika
½ teaspoon garlic (I actually omitted the garlic because my boyfriend isn't a fan, but as a garlic lover myself, I highly recommend adding if you enjoy garlic)
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ Pinch of salt
¼ cup tomato paste
2 cups veggie broth
This dish was SERIOUSLY delicious! Even though the above picture isn't super appetizing (working on my food photography skills... and remembering to not start eating the dish before snapping a picture would probably help too). As a Hispanic woman, with a love for classic dishes like enchiladas, I was so excited to try out this recipe and recreate a healthier version of one of my favorite comfort foods. I ended up having so much extra black bean/ butternut squash filling I was able to put the leftovers to good use (see picture below) which I love a good dish that you can re-use in a variety of ways.
Let me know in the comments if you try out my substitutions for this recipe and tag me in your Insta stories with your own recreation of this dish!
For more healthy recipes/substitutions / and weekly holistic wellness content, be sure to follow me on Instagram where I am most active and love connecting with you guys. You can also check out my Health Coaching Programs to find out how I can become your Holistic Wellness Coach.
Coming up later this week on my IG: My own recipe for GF/ DF Pancakes - They are THICK and SO GEWD.
Also out now on my YouTube channel: How to Get a Better Nights Sleep - So many golden nuggets in that video where I share 7 quality tips to help you finally get some cloud 9 sleep. Subscribe to me there for even more helpful wellness/ lifestyle content!