The Whole Enchilada

It's January and I am in the midst of accomplishing a garden-goal. Gardening in January? Not quite. The goal is to actually use up everything we stashed away in our freezer instead of emptying out year-old produce as new stuff is ready to harvest. One of our most prolific plantings is always spinach. We eat as much as we can fresh, give loads away, and still have plenty in the freezer. No surprise then that I am always looking for a recipe to use it up. And it has to be a good one because I am not a big fan of cooked spinach. Enter Creamy Spinach Enchiladas. I'll preface by saying Keith loved these and I give them about a 6 or 7 out of 10. Keith loves vegetables; me, not so much. So a 6 or 7 is pretty good.

Creamy Spinach Enchiladas
from Real Simple, January 2012 (look, a recipe that didn't sit in my box for a year before trying it!)

1 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 cup frozen corn, thawed
6 ounces Cheddar, grated (1 1/2 cups)
2 4.5-ounce cans chopped green chilies
1 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper
8 6-inch corn tortillas, warmed

Heat oven to 400 degrees. In a medium bowl, mix together the spinach, corn, 1 cup of the Cheddar, and 1 can of the chilies.

In a small bowl, stir together the cream, remaining can of chilies, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

Dividing evenly, roll up the spinach mixture in the tortillas (about 1/3 cup per tortilla).

Place seam-side down in a shallow baking dish. (I greased my dish first.)

Top with the cream sauce and remaining 1/2 cup of Cheddar.

Cover with foil and bake until bubbling, 15 to 20 minutes. Uncover and bake until golden, 10 to 15 minutes more.

Oddly enough, our grocery store was out of heavy cream when I went, so I grabbed the light cream and it seems to have worked just fine. Next time around I might add more cheese to disguise the spinach. Or maybe throw it in the food processor with some beans or something so the spinach flavor isn't so strong. Either way, this is a good recipe for us to use up some of our spinach and corn.