Recipe - Healthy Enchilada Stack

For the first time in awhile I planned out our meals for dinner this week because I wanted to make sure I'm super prepared in order to save on overall time in the kitchen. I've been craving Mexican food alot lately. In fact, last week we had taco salad 2 times, then we had Mexican brunch over the weekend, and again today I was ready to create this Healthy Enchilada Stack. When Louis and I first met, I made him the not so healthy version of this and I'm pretty sure that's how I won him over. It had tons of cheese, tons I tell you, way less veggies, and a lot more sauce. So tasty and so not good for the heart or waistline. That's what I was in the mood for today so I adapted it on the spot and this is what I came up with. 

I didn't measure everything out exactly, these are estimates, but I feel they are pretty accurate. Sometimes on the weeknights eye-balling it is okay for this type of recipe. How can you really mess up Mexican?

Prep & Cook time:  45 minutes (25 to bake and 20 to brown meat and prep veggies)

Servings:  Cut into 8 servings - if you are serving a guy he may have a couple servings instead of just one!

Here's what you need:

5-8 button mushrooms

1/2 jalepeno

1 tomato

1/2 lime

1 avacado

1/4 onion

4 mini bell peppers or 1 regular bell  pepper

1 lb ground turkey

1/2 cup of cheese - i used daiya vegan pepperjack cheese 

4 whole wheat tortillas or you can use 4 large corn tortillas

1 cup enchilada sauce - i use the bottle from Trader Joe's

3/4 cup salsa verde

1/2 can black beans drained

3/4 bag organic pre-washed spinach (again from Trader Joe's)

Packet of taco seasoning

Here's what you do:

Pre-heat oven to 350

Brown the ground turkey, when cooked, add 1/2 cup water and the packet of seasoning and simmer

While turkey is cooking, chop mushrooms, onion and bell pepper, then add to browned meat

Lightly grease the bottom of the baking dish with oil and add a couple drops of enchilada sauce

Begin to layer - first 2 tortillas, spread a little more enchilada sauce, add the beans, then meat mixture, drizzle of sauce, add spinach, drizzle of sauce, add 2 more tortillas, add remaining enchilada sauce and salsa verde.

Top with cheese

Bake 25 minutes

While it's baking, mash up an avacado and mix with salt, pepper, sprinkle of garlic powder, 1/2 chopped jalepeno and a teaspoon or so of chopped onion.

 Sidenote: Our set up at the old apartment was a bit more photo-friendly. This spot is a little tricky since I've got the door to the yard to the right and the air conditioner to the left, but I love this little table and it works great in our apartment. It also folds out so when we have guests over we can pull it away from the wall and it becomes less of "breakfast nook" and more of a dinner table. Anyway, if you are wondering about what's going on here, that's what's going on. 

Sidenote #2: I swear we don't eat on paper plates every night. My sista got us these faux paper plates for when we eat outdoors, but I'm currently obsessed with them and feel they are somehow more convenient than our regular plates...so we have been using them ALOT. 

Serve with romain and fresh chopped tomato for extra veggies! Add any extra toppings you desire. Louis likes sour cream so he had a dallop of that along with some extra salsa. I had mine plain and thought it was perfect.

This is really filling and delicious, definitely satisfies a craving for Mexican food without leaving you super stuffed yucky feeling. Also, you'll have enough for leftovers tomorrow which goes along with my plan of factoring in easier dinners and downtime during the work week. Prep was easy, and we washed all the utensils and dishes we used to cook with during the bake time - leaving cleanup pretty minimal.

Hope you enjoy!

What's your favorite healthy Mexican dish?