This is the first installment in a new category I’m simply titling “Leftover Cuisine.” It’s difficult to place this in one of my other series because some of these meals are going to cost essentially nothing because they are made with food many families would simply throw away. We’ll call the ingredients “sunk costs” for the most part. In this post, I will tell you how I made bean enchiladas with beans left over from our crockpot, left over tomatillo salsa, a little cheese, and leftover cilantro.  You could make a similar recipe with leftover picante sauce from a party.

About a month ago, we cooked some of our bargain pinto beans in the crockpot and had a wonderful meal of beans and cornbread after church. We had enough beans for a few more bowls so we decided to freeze them. We also made some green tomatillo salsa with some tomatillos we found on clearance at a local grocery store that carries many Spanish items. The final component was some cilantro we found on clearance for $0.33 per bunch and a little colby jack block cheese we also found on sale. This meal was very popular in our house and our twin daughters loved it.

Recipe:

3 cups of pinto beans

1 tablespoon oregano or Mexican whole oregano

Salt and Pepper

8″ Flour tortillas (store brand private label just fine)

Tomatillo salsa or some type of Spanish salsa or picante

Cheddar Cheese or Colby Jack Cheese

Recipe: Turn your skillet on medium heat and smash up your beans. Remember to keep them moist as beans will dry out quickly once smashed. You may need to add some salt and pepper to offset the water’s effect. Add the oregano. Get them smashed up thoroughly. Heat your salsa up on low. Turn your oven on broil to melt the cheese on top of the enchiladas.  Fill your tortillas with the beans, a little cilantro and a small amount of cheese. Roll them up. Spoon salsa and sprinkle cheese on them. Heat the enchiladas to melt the cheese and heat them in the oven. You could use the microwave, but it has a very dehydrating effect. Mexican oregano tastes a little different from regular oregano. It is just as cheap and you can find it in the Spanish section of your grocery store.