Spinach and Cheese Enchiladas

I think I got my love for making my own version of food from my mother. Growing up she had four girls to cook for who all wanted something different. Usually one of us didn’t want meat or chicken broth cooked in the dish. Every time she recreated a recipe without meat, it was better than it was before. This is one of my favorite dishes she turned vegetarian. These enchiladas are creamy and delicious. They would be great with homemade refried beans (see previous posts).

Ingredients
2-3 tbs olive oil
1 onion chopped small
3 cloves of garlic minced
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1 vegetable bullion cube
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup cream cheese
2 cups vegetable broth
1/2 parmesan cheese
4 oz canned chopped green chili’s
2 oz canned chopped jalapenos
10 tortillas
4 cups monterey jack cheese shredded
2 cups spinach rinsed and stems removed
1 cup red enchilada sauce

To make the sauce:
In a large pan saute onion, garlic, salt and crushed red pepper in olive oil. Saute on medium low for about 8 minutes. Add bullion cube and break it up with a spoon. Saute everything together until bullion cube is dissolved. Sprinkle flour over and stir together until past-like and slowly add one cup of vegetable broth. Stir together well. Add cream cheese and stir together. You may need to use a wire wisk to blend all ingredients. Add another cup of vegetable broth slowly stirring everything together. Then add parmesan cheese, green chili’s and jalapenos and continue to stir until sauce is thick and blended together. Turn off heat and get ready for assembly.

Assembling enchiladas:
You may want to set an assembly station similar to the one in the picture below. Start with sauce to your left followed by tortillas, spinach, cheese and then your baking dish. Before assembly coat the bottom of you baking dish with a thin layer of sauce. Then begin assembly. Dip tortillas in sauce so it is coated on both sides, then arrange about 5-7 leaves of spinach. Top with about 2 tbs of shredded Monterey Jack cheese and roll. Place rolled enchilada into baking dish and continue this process until all tortillas are filled and rolled. Pour remaining sauce over the enchiladas and pour red sauce on top of the that. Top the whole dish with remaining Monterey Jack cheese and put in the oven to bake covered at 350 degrees for 30 minutes then remove foil and bake uncovered for an additional 30 minutes.

Yields 10 enchiladas