Living in Texas for 12 years built a certain appreciation for enchiladas in me. It’s hard not to love some cheesy, gooey, spicy ones — but this veggie twist was really excellent, too, and made great use of some nice seasonal vegetables. Plus, you can cook it on the grill so you don’t have to heat up the kitchen. The pumpkin seed salsa was pretty unique and an unexpected success as well — a nice mix of salty, spicy, herby and cumin.
This Zucchini and Red Pepper Enchilada recipe makes enough for 4 dinners at $1.88 per serving.
Zucchini and Red Pepper Enchiladas with Two Salsas
For enchiladas:
1 large onion, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick rounds
2 red bell peppers, quartered
3/4 pound medium zucchini, cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick slices
12 soft corn tortillas
6 ounces crumbled feta cheese
For Pumpkin-Seed Salsa:
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh serrano chile, including seeds
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 1/3 cups raw green (hulled) pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 cups chopped cilantro
1 1/2 cups water
For Tomato Salsa:
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup finely chopped white onion
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh serrano chile, including seeds
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
Preheat a gas grill at medium heat. Oil the grill rack and then put all of the veggies on the grill until they are tender with a nice bit of char on them (around 6 to 8 minutes for bell peppers and zucchini; 10 to 12 minutes for onion).
To make the pumpkin-seed salsa, cook the chile, garlic, cumin, and pumpkin seeds in oil in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Stir the mixture until the pumpkin seeds pop, around 4-5 minutes. Keep aside 3 tablespoons of the seeds to top the enchiladas, but pur?©e the remaining seeds and oil with cilantro, water, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt in a blender until smooth.
The tomato salsa is even easier: mix together the chopped tomatoes, onion, chile, lime juice, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt to taste.
To assemble the enchiladas, start by warming up the tortillas. You can either do this by wrapping the tortillas in stacks of 6 in foil and then heating them in a 350 F degree oven for about 15 minutes. Or you can take a couple of damp paper towels and wrap them around the tortillas and put them in the microwave for 1 minute increments until they are soft.
To assemble the enchiladas, cut the vegetables into strips. Spread 2 teaspoons of pumpkin-seed salsa on each warm tortilla and top with some of the grilled vegetables. Roll up the enchilada like a cigar and then you are done, or if you really want to you can them fry them like it calls for in the original recipe.
To serve the enchiladas, drizzle them with the remaining pumpkin-seed salsa and sprinkle a few of the reserved seeds on top with some feta cheese. Add a big dollop of tomato salsa on the side for a nice vegetarian play on enchiladas.
