Lovin' Enchiladas

About author / Christine Gable

Culinary enthusiast; kids cuisine and slow cooking; magazine recipe developer; professional writer. Her simple recipes are great for family dinners.

Do you eat enchiladas at your house? Or does the term conjure up Mexican fare that’s ordered out? According to the Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink, an enchilada is: “A tortilla stuffed with various fillings of meat, cheese, chili sauce, chorizo sausage, and other ingredients.” And apparently it was a Spanish-American term that meant “filled with chili” when it was first printed in America in 1885.

Enchiladas. They’re one of our favorite dinners—and whenever they’re for dinner, my kids rejoice.

But for as often as I now make variations of Mexican food, it’s actually quite surprising that I grew up not eating any of it. No burritos, enchiladas, fajitas, nachos, quesadillas, tacos, salsa, refried beans or tortillas.

Odd? Perhaps. Inspirational for a food writer? Definitely. And it helps since I love to try new things—and especially when those new things are new foods and combinations.

While I may have grown up in a traditional country meat ‘n potatoes-eating household, that all changed dramatically when my mom began a journey into vegetarian and macrobiotic cooking when I was a teen. It was that journey (hey, it rubbed off on me) that ultimately began opening doors that I couldn’t have dreamed of. For it was then that I first began to learn about whole grains, unique condiments and an approach to nutrition that was (at the time) on the cutting edge.

And for a Lancaster County girl: that mealtime and balanced nutrition could be much more than meat, potatoes and veggie. As I look back now, I see that this was a much-needed whetting of my appetite for what would lead me into food writing, recipe development and nutrition research—work that I now love doing every day.

So did I just one day go through the drive-thru at Taco Bell and discover I loved Tex-Mex cuisine? Not quite.

No, it was more of a gradual evolution—of experimenting and re-creating different dishes: super nachos from a local restaurant, of trying various taco kits, tortillas and—when my son expressed an interest in hot sauces—dipping my toes (or would that be taste buds?) in the different tastes and flavors of Mexican cuisine. And as the years have passed, we’ve explored the tantalizing flavors of homemade mango salsa, taco salads and all sorts of bean and cheese quesadillas.

Tex-Mex is a combination food term (from Texan and Mexican) that refers to Mexican dishes cooked up by Texas cooks. While the adaptations they made are difficult to document, many of these variations became a melting pot of flavors from the 1940s and '50s onward. Dishes such as: chili, refried beans, enchiladas, tacos and tortillas, chimichangas, nachos and fajitas.

Whether it’s burritos, tacos or enchiladas, Tex-Mex cuisine offers many great tasting, hands-on food opportunities that are great ways to get kids helping in the kitchen. It’s another step into food and cooking together that’s kid-positive.

I encourage you to step outside your familiar box and try something new and different with your kids. Who knows … there just might be a special glimmer that rubs off on your kids—one that can open many a door to new and unique worlds.

Serves/Makes: 8

• 4 cans (15 ounce size) enchilada sauce
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1 pound boneless chicken tenders, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cups cooked rice (or quick cook some minute rice while meat is browning)
• 1 package (8 ounce size) shredded Colby/jack cheese
• 12 (5-inch size) flour tortillas