Vegan enfrijoladas

"Es mi cocina."

The three words my mom uses when she wants me to get out of her way in the kitchen.  They're kinder than "get the hell out," less cutesy than "skedaddle," and more true to her possessiveness with cooking and the kitchen space than anything else.

I understand where she's coming from, too.  There are times when we really can't share a kitchen.  There are reasons, boy are there reasons, why.  That's for another day.

For today, I want to share a recipe my mom and I agree on: enfrijoladas.  My mom learned to make these when she babysat a boy named Ramoncito in Mexico City.  Ramon's mom taught my mom, Jubita, and then my mom taught me how to make this enchilada spin-off.  Of course, if Ramon's mom knew what I'd do to this recipe to make it vegan, she might regret ever sharing cooking tips with Jubita.  But she doesn't know.  And the vegan recipe 1) doesn't threaten the integrity of the original and 2) is just as delicious as the original (according to my mom).

Vegan Enfrijoladas

Ingredients
Enfrijolada Filling (pico de gallo quinoa)
1/2 c. cooked quinoa
1/4 c. tomato, diced
1/4 c. onion, diced
1/4 c. cilantro, finely chopped
1/2 of a small jalapeño, finely diced
juice of half a lime
dash of salt

Enfrijolada sauce (refried beans)
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 outer rings from a yellow onion
3 c. cooked black beans in water (2 c. black beans, 1 c. water, dash of salt)

Other
6 corn tortillas (El Milagro is the brand I use)

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2.  Heat 2 Tbsp. of olive oil in a medium sized frying pan.  Set the stove top temperature to high and put 2 outer rings from an onion in the oil.

3.  Allow the onions to cook until completely blackened, flipping them as needed. Meanwhile, combine the quinoa, tomato, onion, cilantro, jalapeño, lime juice, and salt in a mixing bowl.  Set aside.

4.  Once the onions have blackened, using a fork, remove them from the pan and discard. Leave the oil in the pain.  Turn down the heat on the pan.  Add the black beans and water to the frying pan.  Be careful when you do this.  Toss it in and stand back; oil, beans, and water will fly.

5.  When you feel safe approaching the frying pan, hold on to the handle, and begin mashing the beans using a bean masher.  Continue mashing until no beans are left whole.  This might take some time and effort.  What you want are smooth refried beans that look whipped and fluffy.  Remove from the heat once done and let cool.

6.  You can heat your 6 tortillas one at a time on the stove, flipping them once.  Another option is putting them in the microwave all at the same time for ~45 seconds.  Either way, heat them until they are soft.

7.  After the tortillas are softened, place them one at a time in the pan holding the refried beans.  Using a spoon or ladle, coat the tortillas. Once well-coated, but while still sitting in the frying pan, add 2 spoonfuls of the pico de gallo quinoa mixture to the inside of the tortilla. You don't want these to be very full as they'll be difficult to roll. Roll the tortilla to close it and place it in an oven-safe baking dish that is 2 inches deep (8"x11"x2" is what I used).  Repeat with the next six tortillas, lining them up in the baking dish.  Spoon the extra refried beans over all of the tortillas, completely covering them.

8.  Put the enfrijoladas in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes.  Remove.  Serve, using a spatula, while warm. Add sliced avocado, diced tomato, diced onion, salsa verde (I'll share my home made chunky salsa verde recipe soon!), or cilantro.  For me, salsa verde and avocado are clutch!