Vegan Kitchen Sink Roasted Vegetable Enchiladas with Almond Mole Sauce

Cinco de Mayo REQUIRES 2 things, margaritas, and enchiladas at least for me!  I love enchiladas...they have to be my favorite Mexican dish!  Especially when filled with vegetables and when made with a delicious flavorful mole sauce!  My friend Gabrielle, who I also work with makes THE BEST enchiladas that I have ever eaten.  And I have sampled quite a few.  They have the most wonderful rich deeply red sauce that is the perfect balance of spicy, savory and slightly sweet, and they are filled chalk full of vegetables and beans between crisp tortillas that she layers stacked style!  Although I know I can never recreate hers, and she will never divulge the recipe, which I respect her for...I have created my own, which I enjoy almost as much.  I made a variation of them recently which turned out wonderful...vegan kitchen sink enchiladas! 

I used the veggies I had on hand at the time which happened to be a mix of local Minnesota produce (rutabagas, carrots, ramps, mushrooms and shallots), and an eggplant I had gotten at work for free.  Hence the "kitchen sink".  It may sound like an odd mix, but I roasted the veggies and they were delicious!  I know...rutabagas in enchiladas?  Yes, they were good in there!  If you decided to make these you could use whatever you happened to have on hand, keeping in mind some things take longer to roast than others.  I also included chicken style seitan and threw in some almonds with my veggies for protein.  I like my enchiladas stacked as well, between crispy corn tortillas! 

These contained no cheese, because I actually don't require it in my enchiladas, and don't even miss it the sauce is so flavorful and rich!  For my sauce I included a blend of the usual mexican spices as well as a few not so common add ins, almond butter and cocoa powder for richness, golden raisins and cinnamon for sweetness (this I picked up from Gabrielle), and chipotles for a pow of flavor!  As a whole the dish is delicious, loads of flavors and textures, maybe not classic mexican, but it is awfully good!  A beautiful tower of tortillas and confetti like veggies in a lovely deep red sauce!  Here is the recipe if you are interested, Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Vegan Kitchen Sink Roasted Vegetable Enchiladas with Almond Mole Sauce

Serves 2 very generously

6 cups assorted vegetables, cubed, or thinly sliced
(I used cubed eggplant, sliced carrots, sliced rutabagas, and sliced mushrooms)
Peannut oil
cooking spray
sea salt

Sauce:

2 tsp peanut oil

1/2 cup chopped shallots (or red onions)
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp dried ground chipotle pepper
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 15 oz can fire roasted tomatoes
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp agave nectar
1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
2 Tbsp almond butter
1/4 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, minced

Filling:

1 Tbsp peanut oil

1/2 cup shallots (or red onion), chopped
1 bunch ramps, (or scallions) sliced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 pkg chicken style seitan cut into bite sized pieces
1/2 cup toasted sliced almonds

6 six inch corn tortillas
vegan sour cream for serving (optional)

Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Line two baking sheets with foil, and spray with non-stick spray. Toss vegetables with peanut oil (keeping in mind that they need to be roasted on separate sheets if you are doing quick cooking vegetables as well as hard ones, generally things like eggplant and mushrooms take less time than rutabagas or carrots so roast them on separate sheets), spread veggies out on sheets, and roast until they are tender but not squishy and starting to brown at the edges, about 10 minutes for soft veggies and 15-20 for hard. Set aside and lower the oven temp to 375. To make sauce, heat 2 tsp peanut oil over medium heat in a medium saucepan. Add shallots or onion, and saute until soft, then add the chili powder, cumin seeds, cinnamon, chipotle, and garlic, and saute about a minute until fragrant, then add the tomatoes, salt, vinegar, agave nectar, cocoa powder and bring to a boil. Add almond butter and golden raisins and lower to a simmer and cook for about 20 minutes on low heat and add the cilantro. Meanwhile, heat 1 Tbsp peanut oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat and add the shallots (or onions) and ramps (or scallions), saute until softened and add the roasted veggies, garlic, seitan and toasted almonds.  Saute until heated through, then spoon about 3/4 cup of the sauce over to coat the mixture. Remove from heat. To assemble the enchiladas, spoon a bit of sauce onto 2 large shallow bowls, then top each with a tortilla. Spoon half the filling onto the tortillas, dividing evenly between the two bowls, then spoon a little more sauce over each.  Top each with a tortilla, then the rest of the filling, and a little more sauce. Top with another tortilla, and the rest of the sauce.  Place in the oven and bake until heated through, about 15 minutes. Let cool slightly and serve with vegan sour cream!