Egg Enchiladas

My toddler is blessed with amazing teachers at daycare- they are liberal with their hugs and kind words, they keep the kids busy and happy with everything from finger-painting to music and playground games, and never resort to yelling- ahem. It truly takes a special person to be a good daycare teacher (or any kind of teacher at all). After a few hours of running around after one solitary child, I collapse on the couch, while the teachers wrangle a bunch of crying babies and willful toddlers all day long- do they have superpowers?

Anyway, as a small gesture of appreciation this holiday season, I thought of organizing a festive potluck breakfast for all the teachers in Lila's school. When I e-mailed the parents of Lila's classmates, several of them responded enthusiastically. We chose a Monday morning in early December. That would give the parents the weekend to shop/prep. Each family dropped off one dish that Monday morning when they brought in their child. Another mother and I did the set-up and clean up.

We ended up with an appetizing spread: One family brought in flaky biscuits, butter and preserves from a very popular local restaurant. Another came with homemade egg casseroles- one with ham and one with veggies. Others brought in fruit salad, yogurt parfaits, granola, bagels and scones. The table was loaded with food and the teachers seemed to enjoy this little treat.

My contribution to the potluck was breakfast enchiladas. (Yes, you've diagnosed it by now- I suffered a serious enchilada obsession this December.) There's nothing to stop me from eating regular enchiladas as early as 6 in the morning. But with eggs, these are a more conventional breakfast food.

I modified this recipe to make it meatless and to ramp up the amount of vegetables. Basically, you take tortillas and roll them up with your favorite enchilada or omelet fillings. I chose lots of vegetables, some beans and a little cheese. Then you cover the filled tortillas with an egg custard. The casserole can be baked right away or- get this- you can do all of it the night before and just leave it in the fridge overnight. Then you just top with a bit of cheese and bake it- the egg filling gets into the tortillas (magic!) and you essentially have tortilla-wrapped omelets all ready to serve to a crowd.

Egg Enchiladas

(Adapted from this recipe on Inspired Taste)

1. Make the enchilada filling: Saute vegetables- 1 onion, 1 pepper, 2 zucchini/summer squash. Other veggies like mushrooms, spinach or broccoli could also be added. Season with salt, cumin, oregano and garlic.

To the cooled veggies, add 1 can beans (or 1.5 cups cooked beans) and 1/2 cup shredded cheese (Monterey Jack or cheddar is what I usually use).

2. For egg custard, whisk together

• 6 large eggs
• 1/2 cup cream (half and half or whole milk will do as well)
• 1 tbsp. all-purpose flour
• Salt and pepper to taste

3. Assemble: Grease a 9 x 13 baking dish. Roll tortillas with the filling and place them seam side down in the baking dish. Pour the custard over the tortillas. At this point you can cover the dish with foil and refrigerate overnight, or bake right away.

4. Preheat oven to 350 F. Scatter 1/2 cheese on the casserole. Bake covered at 350 F for 40 minutes, then uncover and bake for 10-15 minutes more. 

5. Garnish with cilantro or green onions. I wanted to make the dish festive in red and green so I chose a garnish of green onions and halved cherry tomatoes.

6. Serve warm with salsa or enchilada sauce.

The last post in this series is an enchilada dip, coming up tomorrow.