I love to go out to dinner and try new things. And I absolutely love a good authentic Mexican restaurant, my go to is always enchiladas. When we were in Old Town, AZ, we walked to a spot that was recommend by some shop girls. At home we (and by we I mean I) try to make them at least once a month because I really do love them. I get stuck on different versions depending on my mood but this recipe is my take on a dish I had in Arizona that I was oddly obsessed with!
Being a busy mom, I love to do prep work when I have a chance, so I try to sneak it in when I’m making breakfast or lunch or if someone decides to nap, WHENEVER! So with this I prepped the steak and the sauce in the morning and stored in the fridge until I was ready to assemble and make for dinner.
In the steak portion of this recipe I add veggies, my kids love meat and fruit but I can rarely get them to eat veggies so I hide it in everything! You don’t have to add it if you don’t want to but I do and it just adds a little extra flavor and juice to the steak.
This makes 12 enchiladas and you still have leftover meat. We were so obsessed with the enchiladas we had them 2 days in a row and then the third day we had the steak and green sauce over rice bowls to change it up a little and used every last drop up. This was 3 meals for a family of four! I always feel good about saving money when eating leftovers, especially when they are delicious!
The prep time for this is about 35 min and 4 hours of just simmering. The plating and assembly of the bowls is about 35 min so for an hours worth of time we had 3 dinners (and a little prep to make each night after). I try to manage my time as efficient as I can with kids so I can enjoy playing with them and not feel stressed at dinner.
STEAK
INGREDIENTS
2 pounds Beef (not ground, I use whatever is on sale because since your slow cooking it all becomes tender, usually use chuck)
8oz Low Sodium Chicken Broth
8oz Water
1/2 can fire roasted tomatoes
1 Garlic piece chopped
1 TBS Olive Oil
1/4 white onion chopped
2 Carrots shredded
1 Zucchini shredded
STEAK DIRECTIONS
Start by shredding your carrot and zucchini, next chop garlic and heat olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add garlic and sauté, add steak and sear all sides. Remove steak and add the veggies and sauté for a few minutes, put the steak back in.
Pour in the water, the broth and the fire roasted tomatoes. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer on low for 4 hours. Remove 1 1/2-2 cups broth from mixture and add to a sauce pan (this is for the green gravy sauce).
With two forks shred beef and let cool, set aside and store in fridge for when you are ready to assemble for dinner.
SAUCE
INGREDIENTS
1 1/2-2 cups Juice from Steak
1/2 cup Red Cooking Wine
1 TBS flour
1 16oz pouch/can Green Enchilada Sauce ( I used the Rick Bayless pouch)
1-2 TBS Ground Pepper (depending on how much you like using, I went on the heavy side because it was a lot like the one I was re-inventing. I even had a conversation with the server about what kind of pepper they used and how I really liked it! She was like “it’s just pepper!” Haha)
SAUCE DIRECTIONS
Bring the steak juice to a low boil, add the wine and continue to low boil for 5 min. Add the green enchilada sauce and stir with fork or whisk and blend and continue to boil for 3-5 more minutes.
Whisk in flour to thicken. Last stir in the pepper and boil for 1-2 more minutes to reduce. Remove from heat, set aside in fridge until you are ready to assemble. Sauce should reduce to about 2 1/2 cups.
ENCHILADA BOWL
INGREDIENTS
Tortillas, 8 inch (# of the amount you want to make)
1/2 cup Mexican Cheese (you can use any, I even like parm on my enchiladas but for this I used the horizon fine Mexican blend which was Monterey Jack, Colby and cheddar)
Red Onion slivered (small chunk)
1 Roma Tomato halved and halved again
1/2 Avocado sliced
1-2 cups Shredded Lettuce
1/2 Lime halved
Rice and Beans ***optional if you want to make it an enchilada bowl ( I used a box of near east rice pilaf because the kids love it (so do I even though it’s a little more sodium than I like) and a can of La Preferida refried authentic beans)
ENCHILADA BOWL DIRECTIONS
Place about 2 TBS meat in the middle of your tortilla, roll it up and place it with the seam upright (this way none of the juices leak out) in a greased baking dish, repeat for the amount you are doing and tuck each enchilada tight up to the next.
Lightly paint on the green gravy enchilada sauce about 2-3 TBS total. This will help so it doesn’t get crispy and if you add to much it will get soggy. Cover with foil or if your dish has a lid and Bake at 375 for 25 min until the enchiladas are warm all the way through.
Meanwhile, if you're having rice and beans prep your rice according to package directions and warm beans. Add the cheese to the top of enchiladas and bake another 5 minutes to allow the cheese to melt. Warm the sauce in a saucepan and prep the veggies while the cheese is melting.
Now you are ready to plate your meal and build. Plate (or bowl, I love to eat everything in a massive bowl) 2-3 enchiladas per person tuck the enchiladas to one side. Add a scoop of rice and a scoop of beans to the other side of the bowl. Top with the green gravy sauce. I did probably 1/4-1/3 cup per plate. Add shredded lettuce, tomato, avocado, red onion, squeezed lime and anything else you like that isn’t listed. I usually add cilantro but didn’t this time and I didn’t even miss it they were so good!
I really hope you guys LOVE these like we did!! It was such a fun lunch with family I remember getting caught in the rain on our way back to our house!
