Portobello and poblano enchiladas

The kitchen is back up and running after taking a little break from cooking the last week or so. Terry had gum surgery, which pretty much left her diet limited to yogurt and anything else that requires little to no chewing. Then Charlie had his teeth cleaned and had a couple benign fatty tumors removed. Needless to say, there has not been a lot of appetite to go around lately.

Since everyone’s feeling better today I pulled out this recipe that I found a while ago. I made a few modifications that I think made it even better. If you wish to keep it vegan, you can follow the original recipe or just skip the jalapeno cream. I’ve never had a cashew-based sauce, but I bet it’s probably not too bad. I’ll put that on the list of things to try another day.

This was goooo-oood. The corn adds a little more color and pop of smoky flavor to the mix. You’ll definitely get a couple different types of heat, but they’re not so overwhelming that you can’t taste the freshness of each of the vegetables. You can have fun with the presentation, too. I put the avocado sauce down first and layered everything up from there.

I’m putting this one on the short list of things that would be great to serve for a small dinner party. It’s approachable enough and easy to modify for greater quantities.

I’m also introducing a new category with this post which I’m calling “vegan friendly”. The use of this category means that the dish can be made vegan with a couple easy modifications.

Recipe modified from Blissful Basil. Follow the link for the full ingredient list and instructions.

Makes 4 enchiladas.

Ingredients for corn and jalapeno cream

• 2 ears of corn
• 1 tbsp. adobo sauce (taken from a can of chilies in adobo)
• Olive oil
• 1 jalapeno
• 8 oz sour cream
• Salt

Instructions

Jalapeno cream and corn can be made a few hours ahead of time.

1. To make the jalapeno cream, roast the jalapeno over an open flame until charred on all sides. Place in a bowl and cover with a wet paper towel for 10 minutes. Remove the skin, dice and seed the pepper. (leave some of the seeds in if you want it spicier). Transfer to a food processor and add the sour cream and a couple pinches of salt. Mix until well incorporated. Set aside and chill until ready to use. (Tip: if you’re going to use a squeeze bottle to plate this sauce, make sure to chop the pepper pretty small and mix until there are almost no chunks. My sauce got clogged up in the nozzle because the pepper pieces were too big.)
2. Clean the corn, brush with some olive oil and grill until slightly charred. Cut the kernels from the cob and set aside for later. While the enchiladas are baking, heat the corn under a medium flame in a non-stick skillet and add the adobo sauce. Mix until well incorporated and warmed through, about 5-6 minutes.