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Vegan Pinto Bean & Swiss Chard Enchiladas

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I like to roll alllll the things in corn tortillas and call them enchiladas.

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Cashews are sexy. I mean I’m wholeheartedly convinced that they have magical powers. Who needs cheese in cheesecake and lasagna when you can use freaking cashews? Those vegans are onto something. Okay I have a story for you. So I had a nutrition professor in undergrad who pronounced vegan like “vay-gan.” But wait. It gets better.

It was essentially a class on the science behind cooking, and on the first day he asked if anyone in the room was Jewish (the whole Kosher thing). I reluctantly raised my hand. Needless to say, I was the only one in the room with my hand in the air. Classic.

Then he asked if anyone was vegetarian. CRAP. I put my hand back up in the air. Alone again. Yeah… don’t mind me, I’m just the weird vegetarian Jew. Glad to be here. Mazel mazel, good things.

I should’ve made these enchiladas for my professor and shoved them in his vay-gan cheese-loving face with a note signed “warmly, the vegetarian Jew.” Coulda shoulda woulda.

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Raw soaked cashews make the filling of these bad boys taste exactly like nacho cheese, minus all the unpronounceable chemicals and fake colors. Seeing as this recipe is made for lazy people like me (note the store-bought enchilada sauce), I totally give you permission to pour boiling water (I used my tea kettle) over the cashews and let them do their thang for oh, let’s say five to ten minutes. Drain ’em, toss ’em in the nutribullet and watch ’em turn into heaven before your very eyeballs. Of course you can soak them overnight like a responsible meal planner, but let’s not kid ourselves here.

Of note: your tortillas will most likely fall apart in the stuffing and folding process, especially if they’re the kind from Whole Foods with only a couple of ingredients. Have no fear. Cover them with sauce and we won’t even tell anyone. Shhhh.

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Oh and if your cashews don’t turn into creamy goodness right away, fear not. Add the salsa and BOOM. Done and done. We’re all semi-cashew virgins, anyway.

Nach-YO cheese, if youknowhwhatimsayinnnnnn.

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Vegan Pinto Bean & Swiss Chard Enchiladas

★★★★★ 4.8 from 4 reviews
  • Author: Alexis
  • Prep Time: 10 mins
  • Cook Time: 30 mins
  • Total Time: 40 mins
  • Yield: 4 1x
  • Category: Entree
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Description

These enchiladas have a super creamy filling that you would never guess is guilt-free and vegan!

Scale

Ingredients

  • ½ cup raw cashews, soaked
  • ½ cup salsa
  • 1–15oz can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 bell pepper, chopped
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • ¾ tsp salt
  • Pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)
  • 3 large chard leaves, de-stemmed and torn
  • 8 oz enchilada sauce (I use Frontera red enchilada sauce)
  • 12 corn tortillas
  • Cubed avocado, for topping

Instructions

  1. Place cashews in a small bowl. Cover with water and allow them to sit overnight, or for at least two hours. If you’re in a hurry, pour boiling water on top of the cashews and let them soak for 10 minutes.
  2. Preheat oven to 350F. Drain cashews and place in a high-speed blender or large food processor. Blend for a minute or two and then add salsa. Blend for a minute more, or until mixture is smooth and creamy.
  3. Add beans, pepper, cumin, salt and cayenne. Pulse until well-combined but still a bit chunky. Add chard leaves and pulse until they’re broken up. You want them in small pieces, but you don’t want to over-blend and turn the whole mixture green.
  4. Using a 13×9 pan, pour just enough enchilada sauce to cover the bottom.
  5. Spoon filling into corn tortillas, fold them up, and place them seam-side down on the pan. If the tortillas break, that’s ok. You can try microwaving the others to soften them up a bit. Once all enchiladas are all next to each other in the pan, cover them liberally with the rest of the enchilada sauce.
  6. Bake for 30 minutes. Serve with avocado and salsa.

Notes

Adapted from these red hot enchiladas

 

Comments

  1. Love the idea of using cashews as the substitute “cheese” sauce to make these vegan. As a holistic health coach in training, I’m sure I’ll get some clients interested in becoming vegan or who are vegan or vegetarian and I’m happy to find recipes like this I could suggest to them that sound super delicious!

    Reply

  2. Ahh, yay!!! I’m so glad you posted these. They sound AMAZING! I am (surprisingly) fairly new to the cashew cheese thing, but have loved everything I have made with it so far. I’m sure these will be no different. I am an enchilada loving girl :)

    Reply

  3. These sound so good and remind me of this lasagna my friend made me try in NYC- and only told me after it that it was Vegan and not made with cheese- They tasted so similar!

    As if a pinch of cayenne pepper is optional. More like mandatory.

    Reply

  6. Haha amazingggg story and amazing recipe! I am always worried I’m saying vegan wrong, but I think I’m right. Veeee-gan. Not vey-gan. Gah! And cashews are pretty much the best thing ever. Their ability to taste “cheesy” is magical! I really need to make these immediately. Great idea using chard -I never know how to jazz it up and pairing it with these yummy Mexican flavours sounds like perfection. Mmm mmm :)

    Reply

  7. “Raw soaked cashews make the filling of these bad boys taste exactly like nacho cheese” wait…what???? I am so trying this – girl – thank you for sharing this recipe!!

    Reply

  8. Not gonna lie, my mom TOTALLY pronounces it “vay-gan” too. It drives me bonkers off-the-wall ah-ray-zeee! We shall forgive her, she knows not what she does. ;)

    These enchos look insane-o wonderful!! I’ve been wanting to make vegan cashew cheese foooooooooooooorever! Can we have date night and make these?

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  11. yummmmmm thanks for making vegan cashew cheese seem so much more accessible. what scares me away from so many vegan recipes is how complex they can become. i like how this seems pretty simple! definitely wanting to try. you are so inspiring! nom nom nom.

    Reply

    • Cashew cream can be intimidating, but soaking them really isn’t all that hard! Glad you’re into it :) Have you made these yet? They get rave reviews!

      Reply

      • oh hello! so as you know bc i bugged you the ENTIRE time i made these, i made these on sundayyyy. they tasted a LOT better than i thought they would. my mixture wasn’t as chunky as i would have liked, bc i used my new nutri bullet that im obsessed with and it sorta pureed everything. ah well, still tasted totally yum! adding avo and salsa on top helps fo’sho. i wasn’t super hungry so got full off of 2 of these bad boys! so now i have TEN left… thankfully, having dinner in with 2 girlfriends tonight, and bringing these. im not gonna tell them they are vegan and see how they like ’em. will report back! also, love the boiling water cashew trick. im SUPER lazy so your recipes make me look far more talented than i am, which i appreciate, thankyouverymuch. im catholic and not a vegan. can we still be friends?!

        ★★★★★

        Reply

  12. My sister just found out she’s allergic to dairy and my family and I have been trying to think of some new recipes to try. This sounds perfect! Definitely going to make it sometime this week!

    Reply

  16. I never liked enchiladas before I went vegan, but now I’m OB-sessed! And I gotta try it with cashew cheese, that’s just the best thing ever.

    I totally had a nutrition professor who pronounced vegan the same way! He was a little crazy, though…

    Reply

  17. Do you buy your tortillas or make your own? I’m having trouble finding a brand that has a clean label. All the brands I’ve seen so far have a lot of ingredients I’d rather avoid. Any suggestions?

    Reply

  18. OMG!!! These were fantastic. I was afraid I would miss the cheese…man I love cheese! I didn’t even miss it one bit. So much so that I forgot the avo on top!! Q for u…I soaked all my cashews not really thinking that I only needed 1/2 cup. Advice on what to do with my soaked cashews? I’m sure there are lots of options ;) but your fav ones are appreciated. I’m definitely going to make another batch of these and freeze them! Soooo good!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

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