The last post in Enchilada Week is a dip- all the flavors of an enchilada in the avatar of an appetizer. I made it over and over this holiday season- once 3 times in two days for various festive potlucks and it was very well-received so it is making an appearance here.
This recipe belongs in the genre of layered Tex-Mex dips- I think it is practically illegal to have a casual gathering here in the US without a 7 layer dip and a huge bag of tortilla chips. Most of the recipes are assembly-style, using prepared ingredients, for instance, they will call for layering canned refried beans, bagged shredded Mexican-blend cheese, sour cream, canned olives, jarred salsa, and so on. I think we can do better than that without too much more effort.
Enchilada Dip
Just take a serving dish and assemble as follows.
Layer 1 is 2 cups cooked pinto beans and 1 cup enchilada sauce stirred together. Your favorite salsa will work in place of the enchilada sauce.
Layer 2 is 1/2 cup plain yogurt + 1/2 cup sour cream stirred together.
Layer 3 is 1 cup shredded red/green cabbage + 1 red pepper cut into thin strips.
Layer 4 is 1 cup (loosely packed) shredded cheese: Pepper Jack or Cheddar would be my choice.
Layer 5 is a handful of minced cilantro and green onions.
Cover and chill. Serve with tortilla chips.
And that, my friends, concludes The Whole Enchilada. See you next Tuesday with a favorite soup recipe. Because it is soup weather out here!
This recipe belongs in the genre of layered Tex-Mex dips- I think it is practically illegal to have a casual gathering here in the US without a 7 layer dip and a huge bag of tortilla chips. Most of the recipes are assembly-style, using prepared ingredients, for instance, they will call for layering canned refried beans, bagged shredded Mexican-blend cheese, sour cream, canned olives, jarred salsa, and so on. I think we can do better than that without too much more effort.
Enchilada Dip
Just take a serving dish and assemble as follows.
Layer 1 is 2 cups cooked pinto beans and 1 cup enchilada sauce stirred together. Your favorite salsa will work in place of the enchilada sauce.Layer 3 is 1 cup shredded red/green cabbage + 1 red pepper cut into thin strips.
Layer 5 is a handful of minced cilantro and green onions.
Cover and chill. Serve with tortilla chips.
And that, my friends, concludes The Whole Enchilada. See you next Tuesday with a favorite soup recipe. Because it is soup weather out here!
nice! I love dips. Did you add cabbage instead of lettuce because it holds up better?
ReplyDeleteThat's right, Nikita- cabbage stays fresh and crunchy in the dip as well as in the fridge, so I tend to choose it over lettuce.
DeleteLoved the dips and the entire enchilada series! :-) And I am really looking forward to read about your favorite soup next Tuesday.
ReplyDelete- Priti
Thanks Priti!
DeleteYou've made me crave enchiladas... Look forward to soup with you next week. I used to love the sweet corn chicken soups in the Indo-Chinese restaurants. Perhaps you have a vegetarian version?
ReplyDeleteEnchiladas, here I come. BTW, I'm taking Eight Cousins with me (and Catheriine the Great by R. Massie.) Happy Mid-January! R
R- you mind-reader, you! :D I do indeed have a sweet corn soup coming up. Eight cousins is a good fun old-fashioned tale. Let's see if you like it.
DeleteI am not big on chips and dips (!)..but I do inhale soups, so cant wait for your tuesday post :) Any kind of veggie soup with nice chunk of bread is something I can eat for every meal for all winter days :D Happy weekend
ReplyDeleteWhat sort of mutant creature are you, not liking dips and chips?! :D But yeah, I'm with you on the soup-and-bread love.
DeleteNupur, can you recommend a good/simple cookbook on Indian dishes for someone who routinely messes up her cooking? We cook lots of south-Indian with some north-Indian food.
ReplyDeleteI write down recipes, but they turning out to be unmanageable. If you wrote one, I could buy yours :)
Fatima
Fatima- There's no one cookbook that I tend to follow. Usually I find one or two good "keeper" recipes in every cookbook and blog. Maybe you could buy a folder, divide it into courses (main dishes, salads, desserts etc.) and print out your favorite recipes and file them?
DeleteFatima, from the problem you have mentioned I think you need help mastering techniques which are often not conveyed through instructions in a written/typed recipe. Have you tried youtube videos? Since you would see the visual transformation of the ingredients it would be helpful for you to understand the technique used. There will be some aspects where you will have to use your own judgement, like for instance while adding salt, chilli powder or even oil based on your families preference. For vegetarian recipes try Manjula's kitchen, for non-veg try Bajia's cooking. I have had great result with both. Good luck! If you still want to have a cookbook, I would recommend Tarla Dalal's 'Dals' and her 'Curries and Kadhi's' which are from her mini book series that helped me a lot when I was newly married and knew very little about cooking. I still refer to them from time to time. Good Luck!
Delete- Priti
Thank you Nupur and Priti. While what Nupur responded with is a problem too, I need to arrange my recipes somehow and make them accessible. Priti, you are right too. Will check out some videos you mentioned. I have bad attention issues when it comes to paying attention to finer points in cooking, and so mess up things which I have previously made well! And yeah! I might buy Tarla Dalal's books too. Phew! I need so much improvement when it comes to cooking.
DeleteFatima