We might be the only family who does this, but….
We celebrate new TV shows starting.
I make no secrets that we have lots of favorite TV shows. We usually DVR most and then watch as our schedule allow. But there is some shows that we are so crazy about that we watch right away. On Sunday, that’s exactly what happened.
Do you know what show started again this past Sunday? I bet some of you know, but for those that don’t, I’ll fill you in: The Walking Dead.
I’ve never considered myself a zombie fan, even though the rest of my family is. But I started watching the first season with them and well, I’m hooked now. Knowing that October 16th was the season 2 premiere, I planned a little TV Show premiere celebration. I made a delicious Mexican-inspired dinner, with a new recipe I gave up with: Black Bean and Sausage Enchiladas. I also added a side of Spanish Rice, homemade salsa, and tortilla chips. Courtney even made chocolate chip cookies for dessert.
This time around, I tried something totally new in my enchiladas. I made my usual enchilada sauce recipe (you’ll find it at the the end of this post), but rather than just using cheese or chicken as usual, I used new Hillshire Farm Gourmet Creations sausages. I knew that they had a Beef & Jalapeno flavor at Walmart, so I thought that would be fun addition. We went to Walmart to shop for this recipe and you can see my entire shop-to-plate slideshow on Google+.
I cut up the sausage to use as part of my filling in the enchiladas. To do this, I cut each sausage lengthwise in half and then cut each half into half so I had long quarter sections. Then, I sliced those to make the pieces you see in the photo below. The sausage tastes great — lots of smoked flavor, plus the jalapenos are present, but not overpowering.
Since the sausages are fully cooked, this saves a major step in my dinner prep. I didn’t want to spend all night in the kitchen and risk my family turning into hungry zombies. After I diced the sausages, I mixed them with black beans, corn, and some chopped cilantro. I added about 1/4 cup of the enchilada sauce into this too – just a little something to help bind it together a bit.
Now it’s time to get filling. I heated corn tortillas in the microwave a bit and then dip one side of one tortilla into heated enchilada sauce. I used to always dip both sides of my tortilla, but now I always do one side. I find that the tortillas are easier to work with and since I am topping it with enchilada sauce, the side that doesn’t get sauce ends up getting it anyway. I placed this dipped tortilla onto a plate.
I placed a heaping 1/3 of a cup of the black bean/sausage mixture into the middle of my dipped tortilla. I topped it with a bit of colby jack shredded cheese.
I prepared a 13×9″ baking dish by spraying it with cooking spray and then adding about 1/2 cup of enchilada sauce in the bottom. I folded the top and bottom edges of my tortilla over on top of the filling (the ends remain open) and placed it seam side down into the baking dish. Be careful with this — you don’t want to loose any filling from your tortilla. Repeat with the remaining tortillas, laying them side by side until you have a filled baking dish.
Top with the remaining enchilada sauce and shredded cheese.
Bake in a 350 degree F oven for about 15-20 minutes or until the cheese it hot, melted and bubbly. Keep a close watch.
Serve with Spanish Rice and you’ve got a simple, yet fabulous dinner! It has LOTS of great flavor and it was a fun variation of my usual enchilada recipes.
As I was making it, I got to thinking how these enchiladas would be great for game day food too — if you love smoked sausages, this is a way to combine a favorite dinner with them.
PrintBlack Bean & Sausage Enchiladas
Ingredients
- 1 12 oz pkg Hillshire Farm Gourmet Creations Beef & Jalapeno Smoked Sausage (cubed)
- 2 15 oz cans black beans (drained & rinsed)
- 1/2 cup corn kernals (defrosted if frozen)
- 1/4 cup cilantro (chopped)
- Enchilada sauce (recipe below)
- 12–15 corn tortillas
- 12–16 oz shredded cheese (Monterey Jack, Colby-Jack, or Cheddar, divided)
Enchilada Sauce
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 teaspoons cumin
- 2 tablespoon crushed Mexican oregano
- 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper (can use less if you want a less spicy sauce)
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 6 oz can tomato paste
- 3 1/2 cups chicken broth (can use other flavors)
- 1/2 cup water (may need more)
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- To make sauce: In a pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Whisk in cumin, oregano, red pepper, flour, and tomato paste. Continue cooking, while whisking, for about 1 minute or so (you’ll notice the mixture sticking to the bottom of the pan). Whisk in broth and water and bring to a boil. Cook, stirring frequently, until mixture has thickened. Add lime juice and salt. If mixture is too thick to your liking, you can add more water. Also, taste sauce – if you would like more salt, feel free to add it. Turn off heat and allow to sit while you making enchiladas.
- In a mixing bowl, combine cubed sausage, black beans, corn, and cilantro. Coat with approximately 1/4 cup enchilada sauce.
- Preheat oven 350 degrees F. Grease a 13×9″ baking dish with cooking spray. Coat bottom of prepared baking dish with about 1/2 cup enchilada sauce. Heat stack of tortillas on a plate, in the microwave – about 1-2 minutes (depends on your microwave).
- Dip one side of a tortilla in warm enchilada sauce. I do this by laying one side directly on top of sauce in the pan. Lay tortilla, undipped side down, onto a plate. Spoon a heaping 1/3 cup of black bean/sausage mixture in a line in the middle of the tortilla (directly on top of the sauce). Top with a bit of cheese. Fold top & bottom of tortilla over the filling, keeping sides open. Place filled tortilla seam-side down in prepared baking dish. Repeat with remaining tortillas until baking dish is filled.
- Top enchiladas with enchilada sauce until covered. You may or may not use all of the sauce you made – depends on ow much you used during dipping of the tortillas and how much sauce you would personally like on top. Top the sauce with the remaining shredded cheese.
- Bake for approximately 15-20 minutes or until cheese is hot, melted, and bubbly. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes or so.
If you’d like to see even more photos of my #GourmetCreations shopping experience for this recipe, you can see it here: Shop-to-Plate for Black Bean & Sausage Enchiladas Recipe
This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias #cbias. All opinions, as always, are 100% my own.
Chacoy says
Who would have thought to put sausages into enchiladas? That looks so good!
Steph says
I am going to make these. Looks good.
Crunchy Beach Mama says
You are so creative! We love Mexican in our house and I love what you did. Though my boys are huge into spicy – I loved the jalapeno style!
Amy says
This looks fantastic and I just happen to have some of those jalapeno sausages in my fridge. I’m addicted to The Walking Dead as well. It scares the crap out of me but I still watch it ;D
Sarah @ Sarah's Deals says
Love dishes that are a balanced meal all in one!
Chrysa says
This looks so good! I love the picture of the sausage, bean corn, etc. mixture – – – I think I could even eat it just like that!