Tofu veggie enchiladas with tomatillo sauce

Here at Grown in Frederick, we have a pretty wide palate for recipes made with local food. This tofu veggie enchilada recipe is divine. A trick with this enchilada recipe taught to me by my friend Tyra is to dip the corn tortillas in the enchilada sauce and quickly fry on a hot pan before rolling ingredients in them. Tyra has a number of enchilada tricks. She mixes salsa with sour cream to top the enchiladas (here, we mix part of the enchilada sauce with sour cream and part without, then marble the top) Tyra also sautes the vegetables and tofu in taco seasoning and I highly recommend this. This recipe is part Tyra's and part mine...hope you love it.

Tomatillos are a lot like tomatoes, though they are not in the same family, and can be used in salsas, sauces, and many other places you see tomatoes. Tomatillos grow in a papery husk that you will want to remove. If you don't have tomatillos, you can always substitute canned tomatillo or regular enchilada sauce but it won't be quite as good. I have not seen tomatillos at the farmer's market, but Yeon and I grew them from seed this year and have quite a crop!

My friend Emerson works for his family's local soy company and I will try to get the link for you soon. Perhaps you are not a fan of tofu? Then you have never eaten it right.

Tomatillo enchilada sauce
(borrowed from epicurious):

• 1 1/4 lb Fresh tomatillos
• 1 - 2 Jalapeno peppers (the local ones are in and they are salmonella-free)
  
• 1 sm Onion peeled and finely chopped
• 1 med Garlic clove peeled and minced
• 1 Tablespoon Vegetable oil
• 2 c vegetable broth
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt

Husk and wash the tomatillos. Bring a pan of water to the boil, add the tomatillos and jalapeno peppers and time for 10 minutes. Drain and remove the stem ends of the peppers. Put the tomatillos, peppers, onion and garlic in a food processor and process to a coarse puree.

In a large pan heat the vegetable oil over medium heat. Add the vegetable puree and simmer 2 minutes. Stir in the broth and salt; simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Set aside. Sauce keeps about a week in the refrigerator.

Enchiladas

• corn tortillas
• vegetable oil (not olive oil due to heat)
• cheddar or jack cheese, shredded (try Caprikorn farms cheddar goat cheeses or South Mountain Creamery's jack or cheddar cheeses)
• fresh vegetables for the filling (whatever is in season. Right now, zucchini, squash, onions, and sweet peppers would be delicious)
• taco seasoning
• enchilada sauce from above
• sour cream

Saute onions in oil, add tofu cut up into small chunks. Add taco seasoning and cook for a little while. Add the rest of the vegetables and cook some more. Take pan off the heat. Have a flat bowl of enchilada sauce ready. Heat a flat pan until it's sizzling hot. Add a little oil. Dip the tortilla in the enchilada sauce and quickly pan fry each tortilla on both sides. In a large rectangular baking dish, Fill up each tortilla down the middle with the filling and add some cheese. Roll up each side. Fill the pan with rows of the enchiladas and add cheese on top. Add 1/2 of the remaining enchilada sauce. Mix the rest with the sour cream and pour on top of the enchiladas in stripes. Marble the stripes by running a skewer or knife perpendicular to the sour cream rows. Or just bake it as-is because the enchiladas will taste the same either way. Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes. Serve with fresh cilantro, slices of lime, and or crumbly queso fresca.