Test Kitchen Tuesday: Layered Veggie Enchiladas

I am on somewhat of a vacation this week! Not a “real” vacation, where one sleeps in and lounges about and perhaps goes to a destination unknown. No, this week, I am on vacation from one of my four clients, which means I have a more “normal” workweek on my hands.

This has been fantastic! I have cleaned, vacuumed dog hair out of every crevice in the house and car, and had enough time to not rush my workouts. And, I’ve had time to start reading October’s book for the Virtual Book Club: Spirit Junkie: A Radical Road to Self-Love and Miracles by Gabrielle Bernstein.

For TKT this week, I went back to 2Chili’s favorite cuisine: Mexican. He could eat Mexican food morning, noon, and night, and since I like it too, it’s not a compromise to have something out of the wide Mexican food palate.

This recipe comes from Whole Foods Market. They have a great recipe database, and if you’ve never checked it out, it’s worth a visit!

Sadly, this didn’t turn out to be a hit, but the concept is a good one. I think with some adjustments I can make it suit our tastes a little better. I will try this again adding some brown rice on the bean layer, and, using salsa instead of straight canned tomatoes. I’ll also chop up the peppers instead of using them in strips, and perhaps add some squash to the veggie mixture.

Layered Vegetable Enchiladas

Recipe Source: Whole Foods Market Recipes

Time Required: About 25 minutes – 10 to prep and 15 to bake

2Chili’s Taster Rating (out of 5): 2.5
He ate this without complaining, but later revealed he wasn’t keen on the heavy tomato overtones and didn’t even realize it had beans in it. His quote was “it needs beans and rice.”

The Cook’s Taster Rating (out of 5): 3.5

I liked this quite a bit more than my finicky 2Chili, but, he’s right that the tomatoes overpowered everything else. I used fresh peppers instead of frozen and fresh spinach instead of frozen greens, but that didn’t seem to make much of a difference.

Nutrition – From the Recipe”:

Per serving: 380 calories (50 from fat), 5g total fat, 2g saturated fat, 15mg cholesterol, 200mg sodium, 66g total carbohydrate (14g dietary fiber, 8g sugar), 18g protein