Get Skinny South of the Border

I love ethnic food. Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Greek but Mexican flavors take the cake for me. Salty, spicy, melty cheese its all just so good! And when the Hubbs had a craving for enchiladas I felt a challenge coming on. Sure, I could absolutely use a corn tortilla but just eliminate the cheese. However, I try to limit my corn because its high in carbs and also corn is GMO and I try my best to avoid that whenever possible (I don't avoid it like the plague). I could do a whole wheat tortilla, but to me it is just plain wrong to use a flour tortilla for enchiladas! So, what's the best part about an enchilada? The filling and the cheese. Am I right or am I right?!? So I decided to make a tasty filling with red onion, black beans & spinach. Then the vessel....hmm. I got it. The round Zucchini that I had leftover from the Yakima Farmer's Market is the same diameter as my individual ramekins. So I sliced the zucchini super thin and layered the filling and cotija cheese. Instead of sour cream I topped it with a clinatro-lime yogurt & served it up with leftover Quinoa Black Bean Salad The end result was a guilt free, incredibly flavorful enchilada.

Individual Spinach & Black Bean Enchiladas

-1 pkg Frontera Red Chili Enchilada Sauce (You can totally make your own, but time was of the essence for me. This sauce is super good, and it isn't full of crap.)
-1 Round Zucchini, thinly sliced (If you don't have a round or 8-ball zucchini you can use regular zucchini sliced thin, or no zucchini and just make the filling & top with cheese)
-1/2 Red Onion, diced
-1 can Black Beans, drained & rinsed
-2 C. Spinach, chopped
-1 garlic clove, minced
-4 oz Cotija cheese (or queso fresco, or any other cheese you want. I had this leftover from the quinoa salad I made earlier this week) Divide into 4 equal portions.
-1 tsp Olive Oil

-Preheat Oven to 375.

-Add the olive oil to a sauté pan over medium heat, once the oil is hot add the onion. Saute' until the onion is translucent, about 2 minutes. Add in black beans, spinach & garlic. Season with salt & pepper. Cook another 2 minutes.

-To the ramekin, add a little enchilada sauce to the bottom. Then start layering zucchini, filling, cheese. Repeat until the ramekin is full. Top with enchilada sauce and remaining cheese.

-Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes until the sauce begins to bubble.

-Top with Cilantro-Lime Yogurt & Serve.

Makes 4 Servings

Serving Size 1

The Skinny per Serving:
Total Fat: 9.5g Calories: 244 Carbs: 26.9g Protein: 13.4g


Cilantro-Lime Yogurt

-3 TBS Non-Fat Greek Yogurt
-2 TBS Chopped Cilantro
-1 small garlic clove, minced
-1/2 of a lime zested
-Squeeze of lemon juice

-Mix all ingredients together. Let the flavors meld while the enchiladas bake.

Makes 4 servings

The Skinny:
Total Fat: 0g Calories: 11.5 Carbs: 0.3g Protein: 1.5g