The Happy Pear: an easy Mexican feast your whole family will love

David and Stephen Flynn of The Happy Pear cafes, cookbooks, courses and food production company, are guest chefs in The Irish Times Health Month kitchen this week, sharing dishes from their newly published book, The Happy Health Plan.

EASY MEXICAN ENCHILADAS

The word enchilada comes from the Spanish world enchilar, which means to add chili. Here, tortillas are filled with a delicious tomato and bean sauce, then baked in the oven and served with a rocking cashew cream. This is a family favourite in our home.

Serves 4-6 (takes 10-15 minutes)

Ingredients

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Enchilada sauce:
½ tablespoon chilli powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon onion powder
200ml tomato purée
200ml veg stock
Juice of ½ a lime
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon maple syrup

Filling:
1 x 400g tin of black beans ( approx. 240g when drained)
1 x 200g tin of sweetcorn
1 x 400g jar of roasted red peppers in brine
6 medium wholemeal/corn tortillas

Cashew cream:
100g cashew nuts
Juice of ½ lime
12 tablespoons non-dairy milk
½ teaspoon salt
A pinch of ground black pepper

Garnish:
A handful of fresh coriander (15g)
1 avocado
1 fresh red chili

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees Celsius fan or the highest temperature your oven can go to if under 250degrees. Put the cashew nuts into a bowl, cover with boiling water and leave to soak.

2. Put all the ingredients for the enchilada sauce into a bowl and whisk until smooth. Pour half of this mixture into a large bowl and set the other half to one side. Drain and rinse the black beans, sweetcorn and roasted red peppers. Chop the red peppers into thin strips. Add the beans, sweetcorn and red peppers to the large bowl of enchilada sauce and mix well.

3. Lay the tortillas out on a work surface one at a time, and fill them with the mixture, dividing it equally between the tortillas. Roll them up, then put them into an ovenproof dish or baking tray about 30cm x 20cm - 6 filled tortillas should fit perfectly. Once rolled, pour over the rest of the enchilada sauce and bake in the preheated oven for 5 minutes.

4. While the enchiladas are in the oven, drain and rinse the soaked cashew nuts. Put them into a blender with the rest of the ingredients for the cashew cream, and blend until smooth.

5. Finely chop the coriander stalks and leaves. Peel and slice the avocado, and finely slice the red chili. Remove the enchiladas from the oven, drizzle over the cashew cream, and decorate with the sliced avocado, chili and coriander.

Recipe from The Happy Health Plan, by David and Stephen Flynn, published by Penguin Life. thehappypear.ie