Home, Cooking: Winter Project Enchiladas

I may have previously mentioned the software Paprika, a “recipe manager” that lets you automatically download recipes from online, organize them by folder, and search them by ingredient. I’ve paid for Paprika longer than almost any other software, and the situation in there, I realized on a recent winter morning while looking for inspiration for a recipe to make to stock my freezer, was getting embarrassing. The more than 2,000 recipes my former selves had saved were searchable, sure, but I had the distinct feeling that there were things I used to cook all the time that had vanished into the mess. 

I decided February was a good time to go through this digital cruft—to come up with a new, much more minimal folder structure, mark the ones I remember making a lot in the past as “favorites,” and delete the ones that were doubles, or that I was definitely never going to make again. (It appears I — now a person who rarely drinks — used to serve a lot of interesting cocktails.) 

In the process of doing this cleanout, I found a number of good-looking recipes that a past self saved, but never cooked. I put them all in a “Try Next” folder. Their number includes this one, which turns out to be an enchilada recipe for the ages. It’s going to leave your kitchen counter covered in bowls and pans that need to be washed. It’s going to take many steps to execute, using up a goodly part of a winter Saturday afternoon. But it’s also going to give you a new way to eat the omnipresent February root vegetables, and deliver a hit of fresh, green sharpness in the sauce. (Caution: For cilantro fans only).

Winter Project Enchiladas

(adapted from an Epicurious recipe that’s no longer online!) 

Ingredients

• 1 pound parsnips, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 12 ounces yams or sweet potatoes (about 2 small), peeled, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• ½ red onion, sliced (about 1½ cups)
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• ½ teaspoon cumin powder 
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano 
• 1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
• 5 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
• 1 large garlic clove, peeled
• 1 small jalapeño (or hotter) chile, halved, seeded
• 2 cups coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 cup chopped green onions (about 2 bunches) 
• 1 4-ounce can diced green chiles (preferably fire-roasted), drained
• 2 cups purchased salsa verde 
• ½ cup crème fraîche or sour cream, divided
• 8 ounces cooked peeled deveined shrimp, coarsely chopped
• 12 5½- to 6-inch-diameter corn (or corn-wheat blend) tortillas
• 8 ounces crumbled queso fresco or feta cheese (about 2 cups)

Directions

1. Set oven to 400. Set up a large rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Pour parsnips, sweet potatoes, and red onion onto the sheet. Add cumin powder, chili powder, oregano, salt, and 2 tbsp of the vegetable oil. Tumble the mixture about (your hands are an ideal tool for this). Roast the vegetables until they’ve got brown spots in places and the cubes are soft. Remove from the oven and cool. (It’s definitely fine to do this ahead, even the day before, and store the veg mixture in the fridge until you’re ready to move on.)
2. While the vegetables are baking, you’ll make the sauce. Haul out your big food processor. Use it to finely chop the garlic and jalapeño. Then add cilantro, green onions, and green chiles. Do on-off turns until the mix is a coarse puree. (At this point, I take a big sniff, because this smells very good.) Add the purchased salsa and blend. Pour the whole thing in a saucepan and add ¼ cup of the crema or sour cream. Heat it slightly and stir until the cream is dissolved into the sauce. Taste for salt and pepper, set aside. 
3. Set the oven to 375. Return to the roasted vegetables. Take 1 cup out of the mixture and set it aside (and eventually scatter these on top, for looks and fun). Put the rest into the food processor and coarsely chop (you don’t need to wash out the bowl first; it’s fine if they acquire a bit of sauce in the process). Put that mixture in a big bowl, add the chopped shrimp, and toss. More salt and pepper! 
4. If you have corn tortillas, soften them by heating the rest of the oil in a skillet over medium-high, then letting each tortilla take a little turn in the heat (don’t go too far; you don’t want them to brown and get stiff – fifteen seconds for each side should suffice). Drain on paper towels. (I find corn/wheat blends are softer to begin with, and wouldn’t need this.)
5. Time to assemble! Use a 15x10x2 baking dish. If you don’t have one, like I don’t, a 9×13 pan supplemented by a small bread loaf pan, for the overflow. Spread ½ cup of the sauce over the bottom. Start to fill the tortillas: one at a time, put 2 tsp cheese down the center; add ¼ cup of the vegetable and shrimp mix; roll it up and put it in the dish seam side down. Do this with the rest of the tortillas until they’re all nestled in. Scatter the reserved whole vegetables over the top. Pour the rest of the sauce over and use a spatula to spread it evenly. Sprinkle the rest of the cheese and drizzle the rest of the cream over the top. Bake until heated through, about 20 minutes.