Kick that Can to the Curb and Make Your Own Enchilada Sauce!

I’m all about making my own food at home whether it’s American, Thai, Japanese or Mexican. You just never know what they’re putting in that food at restaurants. I can spend less money on higher quality ingredients when I make meals at home. There are times when eating out can’t be avoided, or when you just need a break, and that’s okay - I’m all about moderation too.

I used to save “exotic” foods for my trips to the restaurant: Chinese, Thai, Japanese, Mexican… basically whatever I didn’t know how to cook. I’ve realized that most of these cuisines are not difficult to cook; you just need to get familiar with the spices and the sauces.

Sauces are key.

With Mexican cuisine, enchilada sauce is a biggie. It’s tempting to just buy a can of enchilada sauce: it’s cheap, ubiquitous, and easy. But they’re in cans; they have a metallic taste and darn that BPA lining! So I set out to cook up a batch of my own enchilada sauce, and shocker!-- it’s not that difficult. Now I can have yummy, healthy enchilada sauce on hand for any Mexican dish I’d like to make! He

And I love my little mini-me VitaClay pot that is great for sauces or meals serving 1-2 people. It's like my little sous-chef, and I don't have to use my bigger VitaClayfor smaller jobs. 

Ingredients:

• 1/4 c coconut oil
• 2 T flour (substitute tapiocaor other starch for gluten free)
• 1/4 c chili powder
• 8 ounces tomato sauce  (make your own!)
• 1 ½ c water or broth broth
• ¼ t ground cumin
• ¼  t garlic powder
• ¼ t onion salt
• Sea salt to taste

1. Heat oil in a small cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in starch and chili powder, reduce heat to medium, cook until lightly brown, constantly stirring to prevent burning.
2. Add starch mixture, tomato sauce, and other remaining ingredients to the clay pot.
3. Set to soup and continue cooking about 10 minutes, until thickened slightly.
4. Season to taste with salt.

To learn more about my journey away from processed food and kicking those cans to the curb, click here. 

For more Mexican Vegan recipe ideas, click here.

This recipe is suited best to VitaClay models VS7600, VF7700, VM7900