Creations, Tacoladas

My favorite part of cooking is the creating part. I guess that is why it is so difficult for me to follow recipes exactly, I just can’t do it! I have to change something, good or bad, I can’t help it. Last week when I fixed tacos I cooked an extra pound of seasoned ground beef and stuck in the the freezer. I love it when I do that! Anyway, I knew that I had a lot coming up so I was already semi planning a Mexican dish for the weekly menu plan. This is another one of those dishes that is more of a formula or a method than a recipe. Just use what you have or what makes sense to you…looks yummy, yes?
I love to make enchiladas, it’s the California in me, and you can put anything and everything in them. With the frozen taco meat, some black beans, spinach, and corn on hand, it didn’t take any time to whip up a Mexican dish.
I gathered the ingredients, I always keep certain staples on hand such as Enchilada sauce in the pantry and cheese and tortillas in the fridge, so I was all set.
I put the defrosted taco meat in a bowl and added drained and rinsed black beans and corn. I chopped the onion and gave it a quick saute until transparent
and threw the spinach on top to wilt
When the spinach has cooked down, throw the veggies into the bowl with the meat, beans and corn
Filling is ready! Grab some grated cheese, or grate it yourself*
*TIP: I like to grate a big bunch of cheese at the same time and bag it for future use. It will keep fresh for several weeks and tastes so much better than grated packaged cheese
set up assembly line with tortillas, filling, cheese, sauces, & prepared dish or dishes. Pour 1 can of green chili Enchilada sauce into each pan.
Put a smear of sour cream [1 -2 T] down the center of tortillas, place a heap of filling on top, sprinkle with cheese.
Carefully roll up tortillas as tightly as possible and place seam side down in prepared pans, and spread top with additional sour cream. Pour 1 can of red Enchilada sauce over tops of rolled enchiladas. I ended up with enough filling for 2 casseroles, one for us and one to share.
I had some left over fillingso I tucked it into the ends of the enchiladas around the sides of the casseroles.
Top the casseroles with cheese
Cover with foil and label with baking instructions and your dish is ready for sharing! You can also label, date and freeze for later if your meat has not been previously frozen.
Dinner’s ready!
Here’s the formula:

TACOLADAS
Ingredients
- 12 small flour tortillas
- 1 lb. ground beef cooked and seasoned for tacos
- 1 can black beans
- 1 cup corn kernels cooked
- 1 medium onion chopped
- fresh spinach
- 10 oz cheddar and/or jack cheeses shredded
- 1 cup sour cream
- 2 cans green chile enchilada sauce
- 2 cans red enchilada sauce
Instructions
- Saute onion in a little butter & OO in skillet over medium heat.
- When onion is transparent and starting to brown, toss spinach on top of it and let it steam for a minute, then stir and cook 1-2 more minutes until wilted and cooked down.
- Drain black beans and rinse well. Combine taco meat, corn, beans, spinach & onion.
- Lay out rows of tortillas and smear a little sour cream down the center of each [1 T or so] divide filling among tortillas and top with a little cheese.
- In a prepared casserole dish, pour a can of green enchilada sauce.
- Roll up tortillas tightly and place them seam side down in pan, squishing tightly together.
- Spread remaining sour cream over tortillas, cover with a can of red enchilada sauce and top with cheese.
- Cover and bake at 350 for 30 minutes, then uncover and cook until hot and bubbly. This makes 1 big [serves 4-6] and 1 small [serves 2-4] casseroles, or 1 extra large pan [serving 10] Can be made a day ahead.
- Serve with a green salad and garnish with tortilla chips.
Serve with a green salad and garnish with tortilla chips.
Enjoy!