(S)He who controls the spice controls the universe...

(That is a Dune quote. I don't care what anyone says, that David Lynch shit is good!) 

Tonight's meal, roasted vegetable enchiladas with homemade sauce, was much more time consuming than I should have let it be. If I had just bought canned beans instead of waiting for my dried ones to cook...

Alas, it wasn't ready until 9 pm. Way too late to eat in this almost thirty year old body. I must give credit where credit is due - the enchilada recipe comes from here, and the enchilada sauce from here.

I thought I had more zucchini than I did, so I used up most of my yellow crookneck squash along with my sole zucchini. I tossed the squash and zucc with about 4 tsp of olive oil, and 2 tsp lemon pepper, then roasted at 425° for about 30 minutes, until browning.

I was still waiting for my black beans to finish cooking, so I began the enchilada sauce. Look at these gorgeous spices! I had some chipotle chili powder from World Market, so I used 2tb of that and 2tb traditional chili powder. The chipotle chili powder must have added the spice, because the sauce ended up too hot for me to handle! I'm a bit of a weakling that way.

I combined 2 tb wheat flour and 2 tb canola oil, then added in those gorgeous spices.

Then 1 cup of No-Chicken Broth (I usually get the low-sodium kind) and 1 cup of water. My broth was leftover and frozen, and the bag said 2 cups. However, I used a cup of it recently and neglected to mark the bag. I was also out of vegan bouillon cubes, so it had to be water...it simmered until thickened.

Finally, the beans were done. I combined a chunk of goat cheese (YUM OH MY GOODNESS IT'S SO GOOD) and red onion with the beans. Then, I somehow forgot to add in the roasted vegetables before I started making the enchiladas.

I poured 1/2 cup of the enchilada sauce in a 9x13 dish, deciding then to taste it. Incredibly hot, at least to my taste. I stirred in a few shakes of sugar into the remaining sauce, and it became palatable.

After filling over half of the dish, I remembered the damn squash and stirred it into the remaining bean mixture.

A bit of a rewind: earlier, while waiting for the beans to cook, I attempted to char the tortillas on a burner, as recommended by the recipe. It didn't seem to work well, so I stopped. Then, getting to the non-toasted tortillas, I realized it was working, because they were falling apart quite easily. I toasted some more.

A correctly filled enchilada--

After filling the pan, I topped them with some more sauce and some goat cheese. It baked at 375° for 20 minutes, which makes the goat cheese incredible - slightly hardened on the outside, soft on the inside.

I ate the enchiladas with some bread, knowing I'd need to rid my mouth of the spice. They were quite good, but I'm gonna donate them to some friends. I will never finish them all!

I'm also in love with my new plate from World Market! The food is hiding an elephant.