Homemade veggie enchiladas with quintoniles, corn, rajas and onion

Just so you know what caliber of dish we’re dealing with here, I served these to Alice as leftovers last week. She took a few bites and said: “Lesley. I think this is the best thing you’ve ever made in Mexico.”

I’m sure it was the quintoniles. And the homemade tomato-based enchilada sauce.

I didn’t explain this very well in the other post, but quintoniles really like a lighter version of spinach. You don’t get any of the bitterness. None of the squeaky texture across your teeth. Just mild, mellow flavor. They’re like the Dazed and Confused green, just wanting everyone to relax and enjoy themselves.

This veggie combination came about somewhat randomly. Somehow, all the stars aligned and everything I hoped to happen, did: The enchiladas were hearty and light at the same time; sweet and salty; toothsome from the corn, and lightly fried tortillas.

Not to get all weird-bohemian-girl on you, but I felt a sense of time passing as I ate them. Like, suddenly it became very clear that the pre- and post-Mexico me had morphed into two different people.

This is because I have a little bit of a history with enchiladas. In my 20s, when I lived in Texas, enchiladas were one of my “go-to” dishes. I’d dip the tortillas in canned sauce, blanket them with cheese and bake them. Sometimes I’d wear an embroidered Mexican blouse as I cooked, just to let people know, you know, that I was Mexican-American.

People would ooh and ahh when the dish came out of the oven. I’d think: I am so proud of myself for serving real Mexican food from scratch.

And here I am today. The two things I’d always wanted — to live in Mexico, and speak Spanish — have happened. I know more about Mexican food than I ever thought I would, and most of what I truly enjoy is nothing like the cheese concoction I used to make. (My favorite Mexican dishes don’t have any cheese at all.)

I still wear my Mexican blouse, but just because I like how it looks, not because I want to express any overt cultural connection.

Really, I’m just more confident in myself. And my cooking.

Funny how one bite of food can stir up all that, no?

Here’s the recipe.

Veggie enchiladas with quintoniles (wild Mexican greens), corn, rajas and onion
Serves 4, two enchiladas per person

Note: These enchiladas are not baked — they’re dipped in sauce and served warm, as is the case in traditional Mexican cooking. Because of that, the process is a lot more efficient if you’ve got someone helping you in the kitchen. If not, and you’re cooking for more than two people, there’s a good chance you’ll be stuck next to the stove rolling enchiladas while everyone else eats in the other room.

I like to roll mine directly on the serving plate, because it’s faster. Doing so does leave various smears of tomato sauce around the plate. (As you’ll notice above.) If you care about that, roll them on a cutting board or workspace, and then transfer them to a clean plate.

It might seem weird that after I’ve rhapsodized about quintoniles, I also included spinach in the recipe below. It’s because the quintoniles cooked down so much, I wanted just a wee bit more veggie. Spinach was the only thing left in my fridge. Next time I’d be sure to have enough quintoniles in the house.

If you don’t have quintoniles, kale is an acceptable substitute. I made them with kale a few days ago with my sister-in-law, and they turned out great.

Ingredients

1 batch tomato-based enchilada sauce (recipe here)
3/4 kilo (about 1 1/2 pounds) of quintoniles, picked over, stemmed and rinsed
1 bunch spinach (about 1 1/2 cups, loosely packed), stemmed and rinsed
1 small onion, chopped
1 cup fresh corn kernels
2 poblano peppers, roasted and cut into strips
12 corn tortillas
vegetable or canola oil
Cilantro for garnish, or crema or queso fresco

1. Warm the enchilada sauce in a saucepan over low heat. When it’s thoroughly warmed, keep the heat on low and move on to your filling, leaving the sauce uncovered. Stir occasionally so it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan.

2. Fill a large pot with water and boil the spinach and quintoniles until tender. Drain and reserve a few cups of the water. Set greens aside.

3. Heat a few tablespoons of canola oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add the onion and cook until soft and translucent. Then add the corn and poblano pepper strips. Cook until kernels have softened a bit; if they start popping, the heat is too high. Add some of your reserved water if the mixture starts to look too dry. Stir in the boiled and drained greens, toss everything together to combine. Keep mixture warm on very low heat.

4. Heat a small skillet with 3 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil. Fry one tortilla at a time, lightly, lifting them out of the pan before the edges start to crisp and brown. Drain on paper towels or kitchen paper. Then, using tongs or your fingers — and if you’re using your fingers, be careful, this stuff is hot — dunk the hot tortilla in your warm sauce, making sure the sauce covers both sides. Remove to a plate and fill with two tablespoons of your filling. Roll up quickly. Repeat, frying another tortilla, dunking it in the sauce, and rolling it up with the filling. Top with a few spoonfuls of sauce.

5. Repeat the process until you’ve got enough enchiladas for everyone. Rinse your burned fingers under cold water.