Budget-Stretching Beef and Zucchini Enchiladas W/Brown Rice

Submitted by CJAY8248

"Wanna feed your family a cheap and healthier dinner? Try these great enchilada’s made with just 1/2 pound of ground beef. ------"

 

• Ready In: 1hr 5mins
• Ingredients: 17
• Serves: 8

ingredients

• 1⁄2 lb ground beef
• 1⁄2 cup purple onion, diced
• 1 small zucchini, peeled and diced (about 1 cup)
• 1⁄2 teaspoon cumin
• 1⁄2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1⁄2 teaspoon chili powder
• salt and pepper
• 1 cup cooked brown rice (cook 1 cup brown rice in 2 1/4 cups of water plus 1 beef bouillon cube for 45 min.)
• 8 corn tortillas
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 1⁄2 cup purple onion, chopped

• For sauce

• 10 ounces enchilada sauce (medium heat)
• 1 cup salsa (medium heat)
• 8 ounces tomato sauce
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder

directions

1. Cook brown rice and set aside.
2. While rice is cooking make sauce. To make sauce, combine enchilada sauce, salsa, tomato sauce, garlic, 1 teaspoons cumin, and 1 teaspoons chili powder. Simmer until hot. Keep warm.
3. Meanwhile, saute ground beef, 1/2 cup diced onion, 1 cup zucchini, 1/2 teaspoons cumin, 1/2 teaspoons chili powder and 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook until meat is cooked and onions and zucchini are tender, about 15 minutes. Stir in 1 cup cooked brown rice and 1/2 cup enchilada sauce.
4. In a 7x 11 inch casserole, ladle some of the sauce to get about 1/4 inch deep. Microwave corn tortillas 45-60 seconds.
5. Fill tortilla’s with meat mixture and 1 or 2 Tblsp. of cheese. Roll and place seam side down on top of sauce. Cover with remaining sauce. Bake, covered with foil, for 20-30 minutes. Remove foil, top with 1/2 cup chopped onion and 1 1/2 cups cheese. Bake 10 minutes longer, or until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbly. Serve with remaining rice and refried beans.

Reviews

[LucyS-D]

I especially enjoyed the sauce. Next time I would probably double the zucchini.

 

[mersaydees]

I was excited to try this recipe based on the ingredients. There's only one reservation about the recipe that I had while in the process of making it -- it didn't call for frying the corn tortillas first! A little concerned, I continued with the recipe as written. The result is that we enjoyed these more as a tomale pie. Good luck in the Dining On A Dollar recipe contest!

 

[pink cook]

Perfect recipe for beef-zucchini Mexican enchiladas on a budget stretching...!!!. I only added fresh chopped garlic to the beef and the sauce because we love garlic taste. Thanks for sharing this great idea Chef, and good luck in the contest.

 

[Susie D]

These were full of flavor & fairly easy to make. I appreciated the flavors in every component and thought all of the parts added up to a nice recipe! Although I loved the results of the recipe I encountered a few problems in the instructions. I was undecided as to why there was more rice cooked than utilized and the missing oven temperature (I used 350 degrees). <br/>I used Recipe #109685 in this recipe and ground turkey. This did up being one of my families favorite Dining on a Dollar contest recipes. Good luck in the contest!

 

[FLKeysJen]

Great use of ingredients for the "Dining on a Dollar" Contest! So delicious...the taste is definitely five stars! I will be glad to update the stars in my review if you can clarify some directions; for instance, in Step#2 you must need a medium or high burner to get the sauce hot before simmering; in Step#5, you need to add the bake temperature (I used 350 degrees) and also the 1/2 cup onions were not mentioned before and should be added to the ingredient list. It didn't say what size tortillas -- I was able to fill six of the burrito size. You can keep it as six "meaty" enchiladas with the half pound of meat, or even add more zucchini and rice and get eight good sized enchiladas. Good luck in the contest!