Gluten-Free Food Storage: Enchiladas

This is the third post of a special 4-week series about food storage with food allergies. Special thanks to our guest poster, Ali Kat! Be sure to check out her bio at the end of the post. Don't miss the rest of this series: Week 1, Week 2, and Week 4.

Enchiladas (Does not contain wheat, gluten, dairy, shellfish, soy, eggs, or nuts)

If you've ever been to St. George, Utah, then you've likely eaten enchiladas at a place called, Paula's. My dad grew up there and spent 20 years trying to de-code the secret recipe for those delicious enchiladas. After he finally cracked the recipe, he modified it and made it gluten-free. I have gone one step further and made it dairy-free as well. You might not know it, but a traditional enchilada is made with a corn tortilla, so gluten-freers can sometimes eat them relatively safely in authentic Mexican restaurants. Enjoy these super, fantastic enchiladas!

2 1/2 cups cold water
5 Tbsp. cornstarch
3 Tbsp. dairy-free vegetable spread (fake butter)
3/4 cups tomato sauce
2 Tbsp. chili powder
2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. cumin
1 lb. ground beef, turkey, or chicken (can be frozen for up to six months; tip- cooked meat stores better than raw meat)
3 Tbsp. onion flakes
1 lb. rice or soy cheese, shredded
1 can refried black beans
12 soft corn tortillas

Dissolve the cornstarch in the cold water. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly to avoid lumping. Add the dairy-free vegetable spread (fake-butter), tomato sauce, and spices. Mix thoroughly until everything is dissolved, then simmer.

Sauté the ground meat with the chopped onions. Add salt, pepper, and extra garlic powder to taste, if desired. Drain, and mix just enough sauce to keep moist.

In a large casserole dish, coat the bottom of the dish with sauce. Microwave tortillas wrapped in a paper towel for about 15 seconds to make pliable. Moisten one side of the tortilla with the sauce. Add beans, meat, cheese to the center, roll and place seam down in casserole dish. After dish has been filled, evenly coat remaining sauce on top and sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 350F for 30 minutes.

Ali has primarily lived all over the eastern United States, most recently in the southeast. Her formative years were spent in the northeast with all the other granite stators who like to “live free or die”. She hails from a gigantic Mormon family, where she is the eldest, and evidently the bossiest. She has worked as a photographer and graphic designer for the last 14 years, and also studied clinical psychology at the graduate level. She has been living with known food allergies for over six years, and is involved in the gluten-free community online and in her local area. She writes for her own blog as often as possible, and photographs everything she eats whenever she remembers (which is often), along with everything else that interests her.

To become a fan of Ali Kat’s work, or at least and occasional online stalker, go to her blog at: http://yeagleyspawn.blogspot.com/