Black Bean Enchiladas

I'm excited to share this recipe with you because I changed the way I normally prep the corn tortillas and it only took 35 minutes to get it to the table.  The after dinner clean up was super easy, too!

When making enchiladas, I was taught to heat a little oil in small pan, place one corn tortilla in the oil, wait a few seconds, flip, a few seconds more, then remove and drain on stack of paper towels. 

To me, this is messy work, it wastes towels, and it's a trick to get the timing right so as not to make the tortillas chewy.  (And too, I confess, I was hanging out on BlogCatalog when I should have been prepping dinner and I didn't have time for this step.)  I needed another way; a cleaner and faster way to prep the corn tortillas.

HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED

• 12 corn tortillas
• 2 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped green pepper
• 2 cans Ranch Style Black Beans
• 1 teaspoon cumin (optional)
• your favorite salsa
• sour cream

Preheat oven 400F degrees. Mist a 13×9x2-inch casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray, cover bottom of dish with one can of black beans and stir in the cumin.  Line up the cheese, onions, and green pepper to build the enchiladas.  

Now for the BIG TIME SAVER - place a paper towel on a small plate, stack the tortillas on top, cover with other half of towel, then cover with microwave safe bowl that will fit over tortillas. Microwave on high for 50 seconds to 1 minute.  Tortillas will be hot, soft and pliable, be careful not to burn yourself.

Work quickly to fill tortillas with approximately 2 tablespoons of cheese, a little onion, a little green pepper then roll up and lay in dish seam side down.

KID FRIENDLY TIP
    Fill half the dish with cheese only enchiladas and the other half with the works.  Be careful to remember which side is kid             friendly.  I usually lay the enchiladas perpendicular to each other. 

After you fill the dish, pour the next can of black beans over the enchiladas, use any leftover cheese, onions & peppers to garnish  the grown up side. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until hot.  Serve with salsa, sour cream.  

Try it out, then come back to tell me how you liked this recipe.  Don't forget to let me know what ingredients you added or what you did different.