Well summer is truly here now, in fact we are bang in the middle of over a week long heatwave. I am loving this warm weather – it feels like a typical continental summer, but temperatures are forecasted to reach extremes next week, which I don’t think anyone is excited about.
Monday and Tuesday are going to be brutally hot in the South of England with London poised to reach 37° C / 98.6 ° F on Tuesday. Bristol of going to be a couple degrees cooler but still unprecedented heat in this part of the world so that’s rather worrying. While I am definitely not putting an oven on at all early next week, today’s recipe is a tray of beautifully summery vegan enchiladas that we have been quite fond of lately. They are filled with a smoky jackfruit and black bean filling, topped with some white sauce, shredded vegan cheese and a beautifully colourful cherry tomato salsa for a pop of freshness. We’ve been having them with a simple avocado cream on a side, but some vegan cream fraiche or vegan sour cream (I make mine out of cashews) will work beautifully here too. I like when tortillas get nice and crispy in the oven, which is why I didn’t smother them with white sauce all over, only just in the middle. Another thing I did was what Mexican cooks recommend to make sure your enchiladas aren’t soggy – I flash fried them in oil before filling and baking. If you aren’t keen on this option, you could brush them with little oil and toast them lightly on a hot pan or warm them up in a low oven or a microwave at the very least. Although this kind of dish, with complex flavours and textures, necessitates quite a few ingredients, the actual process of making these puppies is super simple. Below is a quick run down through some of the key ingredients and a few photos showing you how to assemble this winning summer dish. Hope you’ll enjoy it!
MORE ABOUT THE INGREDIENTS
JACKFRUIT – green jackfruit, which has been used to replace meat in South East Asia for centuries, has become a vegan staple in the West now too. Most people can get the tinned version, which happens to be more convenient to use too as it does not require much prep. Make sure you purchase green (aka young) jackfruit, not fully ripe yellow jackfruit which is sweet and is used in desserts. You’ll need two tins for this recipe. CHIPOTLE SAUCE – I used some shop-bought chipotle sauce to season the jackfruit, chipotle version of Cholula sauce is what I like, but I’ve also tried using Frank’s chipotle sauce and they both work well. Adjust the amount to your taste as some of these sauces are hotter than others. LIQUID SMOKE – I used a small amount of liquid smoke to give the filling intensely smoky flavour, but if you haven’t got it, you may want to increase the amount of smoked (sweet) paprika to your taste. BLACK BEANS – I added some black beans to the filling for extra plant protein and to add another type of texture to the filling, feel free to skip them if you are not a fan. CORN TORTILLAS – I used 15 cm / 6″ diameter corn tortillas that I bought online but you could make your own if you wish or use regular wheat flour tortillas if you don’t care about the dish being gluten-free. VEGAN CHEESE – I sprinkled some shop-bought vegan cheese on top, but that’s totally optional. They are just as nice without it.
Prepare jackfruit by cutting spongey ends off (you can chop them finely add to the filling), you may also want to remove the seeds – some people do. Simmer prepared jackfruit in a spicy tomato sauce until soft and pliant.
Once the sauce has reduced and jackfruit has softened, store it overnight for best flavour or transfer to a baking tray and bake in the oven to caramelise lightly and intensify the flavours. Baking is optional, but I personally like it better once it’s been baked.
Prepare white sauce and flash fry your tortillas to ensure they don’t get soggy during baking. Alternatively, brush each tortilla with a little oil and lightly toast it on a hot pan. If you would rather not use oil, warm them up in a low oven or a microwave instead.
Fill each tortilla with the jackfruit filling, roll it up and place in the baking tin (steam down) on a thin layer of the white sauce you made earlier.
Once you’ve arranged all your filled tortillas, spoon the rest of the white sauce on top (keep it in the middle for crispy edges) and sprinkle with shredded vegan cheese if you like.
Once baked, serve with a fresh tomato salsa on top and with an optional side of avocado cream or vegan sour cream.
20 ml / 1½ tbsp light olive oil 15 g / 1 tbsp flour, AP flour or chickpea flour (if GF) ¼ tsp garlic powder ¼ tsp onion powder 1 tbsp nutritional yeast 240 ml / 1 cup almond, soya or oat milk salt & pepper, to taste 55 g / 2 oz vegan cheese, grated (optional)
TORTILLAS
60 ml / ¼ cup frying oil (optional) 10 x 15 cm / 6 ” soft corn tortillas
SALSA
15 ripe plum tomatoes ¼ small red onion, very finely diced 2 tsp lime juice ½ tsp sugar a handful of coriander, well chopped salt & pepper, to taste
FRYING TORTILLAS (OPTIONAL) SALSA ASSEMBLY
