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These enchiladas have a surprise inside

Recipe: Pumpkin, black bean and pork enchiladas stretch ingredients

Before serving, top the enchiladas with guacamole and salsa.

Before serving, top the enchiladas with guacamole and salsa. Debbie Arrington

Ever-versatile enchiladas rank among my favorite ways to use up leftover roast meat. Combining roast pork with black beans and roast pumpkin stretches 8 ounces of meat into a full meal for three or four people.

Skip the meat altogether and increase the beans and pumpkin to 1-1/2 cups each. Or substitute cooked rice or potatoes for the pork or the beans. The idea is to make the most of what you have on hand -- very useful when you're sheltering in place and wondering what's for dinner.

This recipe works great with chicken instead of pork, too. (Did I say versatile?)

I’m still cooking with my fall pumpkin harvest (one left!), so I used fresh roast pumpkin in this recipe. But steamed pumpkin or canned pumpkin will work, too.

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Roast pumpkin is the secret ingredient in the enchiladas.
Canned pumpkin also works.

Pumpkin, black bean and pork enchiladas
Makes 6 big enchiladas (3 to 4 servings)

Ingredients:

1 cup onion, chopped
2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 cup pork roast, cooked and diced
1 cup black beans, cooked and drained
1 cup pumpkin, cooked
¼ cup mild chilies, seeded and chopped
½ cup salsa (fresh or jarred)
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
6 soft flour tortillas (soft taco size)

For sauce:
1 cup tomato sauce
1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
1/2 teaspoon chili powder

For topping:
1-1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
¼ cup sliced black olives

For serving:
Guacamole
Salsa
Instructions:

Preheat oven 350 degrees F. Butter or grease a 9-inch baking dish; set aside.
In a large skillet over medium heat, heat oil and sauté chopped onion until translucent. Add pork and brown slightly. Add beans and pumpkin, stir lightly. Add chilies, salsa and pepper flakes; heat filling until warmed through.
Meanwhile, prepare sauce. In a small saucepan, combine tomato sauce, cumin powder and chili powder. Gently warm until almost bubbly.
One at a time, place a generous ½ cup of filling at the center of a tortilla; roll up and place in baking dish. Roll filling in each tortilla until dish is full. Cover with sauce. Top with shredded cheese and garnish with sliced olives.
Bake enchiladas in 350-degree oven for 45 minutes or until sauce is bubbly and cheese starts to brown. (Put a cookie sheet under the baking dish to prevent overflow. If cheese browns too quickly, shield with aluminum foil.)
After removing from oven, let stand 5 to 10 minutes before serving. Serve warm with guacamole and salsa.

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RECIPE

A recipe for preparing delicious meals from the bounty of the garden.

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Garden checklist for week of May 31

Remember to water early. No more rain is in the immediate forecast.

* It’s not too late to transplant tomatoes, peppers, eggplant or other summer favorites. Make sure they stay hydrated.

* From seed, plant corn, melons, pumpkins, radishes, squash and sunflowers.

* Plant basil to go with your tomatoes.

* Transplant summer annuals such as petunias, marigolds and zinnias.

* It’s also a good time to transplant perennial flowers including astilbe, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis, dahlias, rudbeckia, salvia and verbena.

* Let the grass grow longer. Set the mower blades high to reduce stress on your lawn during summer heat. To cut down on evaporation, water your lawn deeply during the early hours of the morning, between 2 and 8 a.m.

* Tie up vines and stake tall plants such as gladiolus and lilies. That gives their heavy flowers some support.

* Dig and divide crowded bulbs after the tops have died down.

* Feed summer flowers with a slow-release fertilizer.

* Mulch, mulch, mulch! This “blanket” keeps moisture in the soil longer and helps your plants cope during hot weather.

* Cut back fruit-bearing canes on berries.

* Feed camellias, azaleas and other acid-loving plants. Mulch to conserve moisture and reduce heat stress.

* Cut back Shasta daisies after flowering to encourage a second bloom in the fall.

* Trim off dead flowers from rose bushes to keep them blooming through the summer. Roses also benefit from deep watering and feeding now. A top dressing of aged compost will keep them happy. It feeds as well as keeps roots moist.

* Pinch back chrysanthemums for bushier plants with many more flowers in September.

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Taste Fall! E-cookbook

Muffins and pumpkin

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Taste Winter! E-cookbook

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Food in My Back Yard (FIMBY) Series

Lessons learned during a year of edible gardening

WINTER

Is edible gardening possible indoors?

Hints for choosing tomato seeds

Starting in seed starting

Why winter is the perfect time to plant fruit trees

When to plant? Consider staggering your transplants

How to squeeze more food into less space

Potatoes from the garden

Plant a fruit tree now -- for later

Win the weed war by tackling them in winter

Tips for planting bare-root trees, shrubs and vegetables

Time to give vegetable seedlings some more space

Ways to win the fight against weeds

FALL

Dec. 16: Add asparagus to your edible garden

Dec. 9: Soggy soil and what to do about it

Dec. 2: Plant artichokes now; enjoy for years to come

Nov. 25: It's late November, and your peach tree needs spraying

Nov. 18: What to do with all those fallen leaves?

Nov. 11: Prepare now for colder weather in the edible garden

Nov. 4: Plant a pea patch for you and your garden

Oct. 27: As citrus season begins, advice for backyard growers

Oct. 20: Change is in the autumn air 

Oct. 13: We don't talk (enough) about beets

Oct. 6: Fava beans do double duty

Sept. 30: Seeds or transplants for cool-season veggies?

Sept. 23: How to prolong the fall tomato harvest 

SUMMER

Sept. 16: Time to shut it down? 

Sept. 9: How to get the most out of your pumpkin patch

Sept. 2: Summer-to-fall transition time for evaluation, planning

Aug. 26: To pick or not to pick those tomatoes?

Aug. 19: Put worms to work for you

Aug. 12: Grow food while saving water

Aug. 5: Enhance your food with edible flowers

July 29: Why won't my tomatoes turn red?

July 22: A squash plant has mosaic virus, and it's not pretty

July 15: Does this plant need water?

July 8: Tear out that sad plant or baby it? Midsummer decisions

July 1: How to grow summer salad greens

June 24:  Weird stuff that's perfectly normal

SPRING

June 17: Help pollinators help your garden

June 10: Battling early-season tomato pests

June 3: Make your own compost

May 27: Where are the bees when you need them?

May 20: How to help tomatoes thrive on hot days

May 13: Your plants can tell you more than any calendar can

May 6: Maintain soil moisture with mulch for garden success

April 29: What's (already) wrong with my tomato plants?

April 22: Should you stock up on fertilizer? (Yes!)

April 15: Grow culinary herbs in containers

April 8: When to plant summer vegetables

April 1: Don't be fooled by these garden myths

March 25: Fertilizer tips: How to 'feed' your vegetables for healthy growth