This dish is a Wednesday night staple in our house. It’s one of those dishes you can prepare in the morning and leave aside until dinner. To save on time I use pre-cut vegetables, as the easier food is to prepare, the more likely you are to eat better.

It’s a particularly great dish to sneak vegetables into children as they are hidden within the tortilla wrap and covered in cheese. The enchilada’s can be cut into little triangle segments, making it particularly easy for little children to handle and eat on their own. They also work well the following day as an alternative to sandwiches.

There is no need to be strict with this recipe, use what vegetables you have available, the key is diversity and colour. In general I’ve found though adding roasted sweet potatoes give the dish a lovely sweetness, and often ‘mask’s’ the taste of the other vegetables. Also using tortillas that have seeds increases the fibre content of the meal. Finally for the adults if they like add some chilli’s for a bit more of a kick.

Ingredients
2 tins of kidney beans
100g baby leaf spinach (kale can work as an alternative, but use a big handful instead)
2 tablespoons tomato puree
1 large onion finely chopped
Olive oil
2 sweet potatoes peeled and diced
1 pack mushrooms cut into chunks
1 butternut squash peeled and diced
2 courgettes diced.
5-6 cloves of garlic
5 spring onions chopped finely
200mg cheddar cheese grated
Wholemeal or multiseeded tortillas

For seasoning
1 tablespoon paprika
2 heaped tablespoons of Mexican seasoning
Sea salt to taste
1 tablespoon roasted cumin
1 tablespoon Coriander powder
Chilli powder (optional)
1 tablespoon smoked paprika

Roasted vegetables
Add the diced vegetables and cloves of garlic to a baking tray, cover and coat in olive oil, smoked paprika, sea salt and place in the oven for 40mins at 160C. Cook until all the vegetables are soft, cool and set aside.

For the Mexican beans
1. Drain the tins of kidney beans and wash well. Place into a food processor and blend into a paste, add the spinach, tomato puree and blend. You may need to add some water, just enough that you can make it into a puree.
2. Gently heat some olive oil and add the finely chopped onion, heat until the onion becomes translucent.
3. Add the kidney bean mix to the oil and mix. Add the seasoning and stir well.
4. Heat for a few minutes and set aside.

For the Enchiladas
To make the enchiladas place a tortilla on a frying pan, add a small amount of the beans on one half of the tortilla. Then layer the roasted vegetables and spring onions on top and finally cover liberally in cheese. Fold the tortilla in half and heat for a few minutes on both sides until the cheese is melted.

Cut into triangles, and serve hot.

For me good health starts with ensuring good gut health. And good gut health comes from eating as diverse a range of foods as possible, as is found in this recipe. Eating a wide range of different coloured vegetables, helps feeds the micro bacteria that live in our gut. These in turn support our body by producing chemicals that are involved in weight loss, metabolism, hormone balance, fighting infection and much more.