Sacramento Digs Gardening Article
Your resource for Sacramento-area gardening news, tips and events

Articles Recipe Index Keyword Index Calendar Twitter Facebook Instagram About Us Contact Us

These enchiladas have a surprise inside

Recipe: Pumpkin, black bean and pork enchiladas stretch ingredients

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED MAR 29, 2020

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.

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.

Comments

0 comments have been posted.

RECIPE

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

Keywords:

recipes gardening Sacramento vegetables cooking coronavirus backyard produce produce management

Newsletter Subscription

Sacramento Digs Gardening to your inbox.

Taste Spring! E-cookbook

Find our spring recipes here!

Local News

Thanks to our sponsor!

Sites We Like

Garden Checklist for week of May 5

Survey your garden after the May 4 rainstorm. Heavy rain and gusty winds can break the neck of large flowers such as roses. Also:

* Keep an eye on new transplants or seedlings; they could take a pounding from the rain.

* Watch out for powdery mildew. Warmth following moist conditions can cause this fungal disease to “bloom,” too. If you see a leaf that looks like it’s dusted with powdered sugar, snip it off.

* After the storm, start setting out tomato transplants, but wait on the peppers and eggplants (they want warmer nights). Pinch off any flowers on new transplants to make them concentrate on establishing roots instead of setting premature fruit.

* Trim dead flowers but not leaves from spring-flowering bulbs such as daffodils and tulips. Those leaves gather energy to create next year's flowers. Also, give the bulbs a fertilizer boost after bloom.

* Pinch chrysanthemums back to 12 inches for fall flowers. Cut old stems to the ground.

* Mulch around plants to conserve moisture and control weeds.

* From seed, plant beans, beets, cantaloupes, carrots, corn, cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, radishes and squash.

* Plant onion sets.

* In the flower garden, plant seeds for asters, cosmos, celosia, marigolds, salvia, sunflowers and zinnias. Transplant petunias, zinnias, geraniums and other summer bloomers.

* Plant perennials and dahlia tubers for summer bloom.

* Don’t wait; plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.

* Harvest cabbage, lettuce, peas and green onions.

Taste Summer! E-cookbook

Find our summer recipes here!

Taste Fall! E-cookbook

Find our fall recipes here!

Taste Winter! E-cookbook

Find our winter recipes here!