Everyone thinks I go out of my way to host dinner parties where everyone gets their dietary needs accommodated. I do not find it that hard to do, so here is an example of how I imagined to make a dinner that would use up veggies, and meet a variety of normal dietary restrictions I encounter.
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Vegetarian Enchiladas
Diet/Medical Constraints
My pretend dinner guests would be one with diabetes, one vegetarian, one vegan, and one gluten-free. But I wanted to make one main dish and only a smaller side to accommodate everyone’s diet. I wanted it to be a satisfying and homey dish, and what popped into my mind was a large pan of vegetable-filled enchiladas. Here was my thinking.
The food I needed to use up included some orange sweet potatoes, and half a bag of small, sweet peppers. I also had some ends of cheeses like jack, two cheddars, and half a container of Mexican crème.
- Diabetes:
- High fiber, Beauregard sweet potatoes are good for blood sugar (1).
- But also pinto canned beans which are fiber filled (~44g carbs per 1C).
- Perhaps using low carb flour tortillas (19 carbs, minus 15 fiber, = 4 net carbs per tortilla).
- However, this dish has lots of cheese (1C grated Mexican Cheese Blend = 4g carbs).
- Vegetarian (Lacto-ovo): This dish did have Mexican and American-based cheeses, and Mexican crema, but no other animal-based products.
- Vegan: Create a small corn tortilla version of the enchiladas, with vegan cheeses and vegan sour cream.
- Gluten-Free: Use the side dish with corn only tortillas.
This menu would meet everyones needs.
Making the Enchilada Dish
Ingredient List
Here is the total ingredient list;
- Low carb Flour tortillas for the main dish
- Corn-only tortillas for the side dish
- Salsa Verde sauce (home made, or bottled like I used)
- Pinto beans (from raw, or canned like I used)
- Peeled + diced orange sweet potatoes
- 1/2 diced yellow onion
- Sliced tomatoes (I used Roma)
- Minced garlic
- Sliced Sweet Peppers in yellow, orange and red
- Chopped roasted Poblano peppers
- Diced Jalapeño peppers
- Sweet Mexican corn (see ingredients below)
- Mexican Cotija cheese, Monterey Jack, + Cheddar
Dish Spices
I added the following:
- Salt and Lemon pepper
- Mexican dried oregano
- Dried Thyme
- Dried Mexican basil
- Ground Chipotle pepper
- Ground cumin seeds
- Red pepper flakes
Tortillas
As a rule, Tex-Mex enchiladas are NOT the most healthy of dishes, generally full of saturated fat in the flour tortillas, cheese and other toppings. This is in part why it is considered a homey food dish. But one way to make it healthier, is to use lower carb flour tortillas (1 tortilla = 70 calories, 19 carbs, 15 fiber).
Flour tortillas are also easier to fill and form into the way I want them. When I use corn tortillas I have to dip them into the salsa to get them wet or heat them up on a dry cast iron skillet to get them “floppy” enough to form them.
Beans
I started with adding beans to the large bowl. To make enough to fit my large baking dish, I added 3 cans of drained and rinsed pinto beans. Each can of beans, in general, has 245 calories, 45g of carbs, and 15g fiber. You can use pinto, black, or even white canned beans as you prefer, but keep in mind that black beans are the healthiest of these options (117c, 20k, 7f).
Sweet Potatoes
I chose the orange sweet potatoes as they are more what I prefer with Mexican food, but also they are lower on the glycemic index than potatoes, yet just as filling. For people living with diabetes, this means that they are less likely to make blood sugar spikes than regular potatoes. They are also very high in VitA and VitC.
So I peeled, diced and fried (in Avocado oil) the sweet potatoes until they were just beginning to get soft. Once at that stage of cooking, I spooned them into a large bowl, which will eventually become the enchilada filling.
Sweet Peppers
I cut off the pepper’s top and sliced the sweet peppers, then scraped them, seeds and all, into the bean bowl.
Garlic
I also finely diced ~4 garlic cloves
and added that to the bowl as well.
Tomatoes
I cleaned and chopped the tomatoes, adding them to the bowl. However, I left out two that I sliced for a topping to the dish.
Poblano Peppers + Cojita Cheese
I roasted the Poblano Peppers, peeled off the skins, and chopped up the peppers before adding them to the bowl.
I also then crumbled the Cojita cheese into the bowl and mixed it into the filling.
Putting it Together
At this point I poured one jar of the Salsa Verde into the 3” deep baking pan. Then it was all about putting the filling into the tortillas, rolling them up, and placing them in the dish to make one layer. For this large pan, I had 4 bags of Low Carb Flour Tortillas, which resulted in 32 enchiladas.
I finish one layer, top with a jar of the salsa and sprinkle a mix of cheddar and jack cheese. Then make another layer and do the same.
Finally I add the sliced tomatoes and some additional herbs, salt and lemon pepper. Pop it into the oven at 350F for 45 minutes.
Making the Side Vegan GF Enchilada Dish
All the ingredients but the Cojita were added to a smaller side bowl because I want to make 4-6 corn tortillas based enchiladas.
Gluten-free White Corn Tortillas
These are higher carbs, ~17 carbs per tortilla but tend to be softer than yellow corn tortillas. The structure of the tortillas more tender, contains a higher moisture content, and that makes them more pliable. Perfect for enchiladas. Just be sure to read the list of ingredients, for often corn tortillas include some wheat flours.
Vegan Mexican Cojita
Almonds work better than cashews for this dish according to those who make it regularly. You want a crumbly, umami tasting topping. This is a blended product, but limit the blender effort or you may wind up with more of a butter than a crumbly nut concoction. I find it sets better if placed in the fridge for an hour or so before using, it seems to become more cohesive.
- In a small pot, add 2t agar powder and ¼C water, and simmer until it thickens ~3-5 minutes. Be sure to stir constantly. Once thick turn off heat.
- In a blender combine 1½C soaked pre-blanched almonds (you do not want the skins)
- 1T white vinegar
- ½T nutritional yeast
- Then add the agar+water mix to the blender along with
- 3T refined coconut oil
- Taste as this is the stage you add at least ½t salt or more, per your taste
- Then place the blender mixture into a cheesecloth and squeeze as much moisture as you can out of the mix
- Take the formed ball and place in the fridge to set
Vegan Mexican Crema
There are three similar cream condiments I use for certain dishes: French crème fraîche, Mexican crema, and American sour cream. Often if I cannot find the one I need either of the other two can usually be used as a replacement. Mexican crema is a creamy and slightly tangy milk-based condiment, that seems to be most similar to American sour cream but is thinner. If you cannot find a vegan Mexican crema, make your own.
This is fairly easy to make, so long as you have a good blender. Put all the ingredients into a blender and mix to the consistency you want, using the water for the dilution.
- 1C of 4-hours soaked raw cashews
- ½C water
- 1T fresh Meyer lemon juice
- 1t apple cider vinegar
- ½t salt
- ¼t Dijon mustard (you want just a hint of this tanginess)
Mexican Street Corn
I made a quick version of Mexican Street Corn, not on the cob. This was added to the bowl once mixed and ready.
- Bag of frozen sweet corn kernals
- 1/2C Mexican crema (or use Vegan replacement)
- 1/2C chopped cilantro
- 1 minced garlic
- 1/2t ground chipotle pepper
- 2t lime zest
- 2T lime juice
- 1/2C crumbled Cotija cheese (or use Vegan replacement)
Salutation
We have an RV trip coming up so I am going to freeze about 6, single servings of this dish for that trip. All I have to bring is hot sauce and an avocado to spice it up and we’ll have great and easy meals while on the road. This took me ~3 hours to prep, cook and clean. But it will serve us lunches or dinners for quite a number of days at home or on the road.
Comfy food, and filling too.
—Patty
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