First There Were Very Small, Very Mellow Waves. Then Came Enchurritos!

Around the holidays Southern California got pounded by some storms that brought really big surf and some really choppy seas. That was good for the big boys and girls, of course, but I mostly stayed out of the water, except for some swim time. Then things mellowed out. We took the beagles up to Malibu last Sunday for a walk and I had a good session at Zuma. Then things got even mellower.  I'm talking waves that were almost even too small for me, and I like small waves! But I consider any time in the water good, and even just getting out there and paddling around is excellent exercise, right?  So the last two sessions have been small and fun, and to celebrate I decided to make the Veggie enchurritos you see here:

You know what an enchurrito is, don't you? Well, in case you're not familiar with this concoction, it's sort of a cross between an enchilada and a burrito. Think of it as burrito bathed in enchilada sauce. Sometimes you seem them on menus as 'Wet' burritos. Kogi has one of those, but I think it's a special. I know I had it once, and like everything else Kogi, it rocked.

I made veggie enchurritos, with a zucchini and black bean filling. This is a pretty healthy post-surf meal because not only is it meatless, but it's loaded with protein. Okay it's also kind of loaded with cheese, but you burned off a lot of calories in the water, didn't you? The inspiration for this recipe was an article that appeared in Saveur Magazine several years ago that was all about Tex-Mex eats in San Antonio, delicious things like puffy tacos and nachos loaded up with cheese. That recipe was for beef enchurritos, but I've done them with chicken too. I've played around with this recipe a lot to come up with a vegetarian version and so that's what I'm going to give you here.

Black Bean and Zucchini Enchurritos
(recipe adapted from Saveur Magazine)
Serves 3-4

For the filling:

2 tbsps. vegetable oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 large green pepper, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 large or 2 small zucchini, diced
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 tsp. garlic powder
3/4 tsp. ground cumin
1 tablespoon flour
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
1 cup water
salt and freshly ground pepper

1. Heat the oil in a medium skillet over high heat. Add diced onion, green pepper and garlic. Saute until soft and beginning to brown, about five minutes. Stir in the diced zucchini. Sprinkle with salt and fresh ground pepper. Cover, and cook until zucchini begins to soften, about another five to seven minutes. Then uncover and let the vegetables begin to brown.
2. Stir in the black beans. Saute a minute or two, then stir in the garlic powder and cumin. Cook another minute or so, then sprinkle on the flour. Cook, stirring, another two minutes. Add the tomato sauce and water.  Season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer, covered, ten minutes, until the zucchini is soft but still holds its shape. Uncover and continue to simmer, until the filling thickens, about another five or so minutes.

For the sauce:

3 tbsps. vegetable oil

3 tbsps. flour

1 1/4 tsps. ground cumin

3/4 tsp. garlic powder

3/4 tsp. chili powder

1 tbsp. tomato paste

salt and fresh ground pepper

1. Heat the oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and cook, stirring, until flour begins to brown, about five minutes (be careful not to let flour burn). Add cumin, garlic powder, chili powder, tomato paste and salt and pepper to taste. Gradually stir in 2 1/2 cups water and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook until thick, about 20 minutes.  Set sauce aside and keep warm

For assembling the enchurritos

3-4 large flour tortillas

1 cup grated cheddar cheese, more if you like

Sour cream

Chopped cilantro, optional

1. Soften tortillas by placing over a low flame briefly on each side. Then lay 1 tortilla on a work surface. Put a heaping cup of filling in the center. Fold left and right edges of tortilla over filling by 2 inches, then roll up tortilla, starting with the edge closest to you, completely encasing filling.  Repeat with remaining tortillas and filling. Divide burritos between plates. Cover with sauce and sprinkle on cheese. Put a dollop of sour cream on top of each enchurrito and throw on some cilantro, if using.

Here's a few of the ingredients gathered.

Yes, that's a can of corn that doesn't appear in the recipe. I realized as I was going along it wasn't needed so just disregard it! Now here are the veggies and black beans at the beginning of their sauté:

And here's the zucchini and black bean filling after the addition of the spices, the flour, the tomato sauce and water, and after it's had the chance to reduce and thicken.

This is the sauce bubbling away:

And what you need to put the enchurritos together:

The finished product you saw above.

So the next time you're torn between having enchiladas and a burrito, think about an enchurrito. You'll be glad you did.