Potato Enchiladas

A long time ago, one of our friends offered to fix a group of us an authentic Mexican meal. She was very nice to make separate food for me since I'm a vegetarian. I assumed that meant that I would get beans instead of the meat. I was very surprised when she told me that in the part of Mexico she was from, potatoes were used in place of meat. Everything was really good but it wasn't until after she had moved out of the area that I got the idea to cook it myself. So I started my search for Mexican recipes using potatoes. I never really found what I was looking for but I was able to adapt a basic enchilada recipe into something very similar and tasty!

4 servings instant mashed potatoes
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 cup cheddar cheese
8-10 flour tortillas
Enchilada or mole sauce

Prepare the mashed potatoes according to the box. Add the chili powder, cumin, garlic, and 1/4 cup cheese. Mix well.

Place a thin coat of the enchilada or mole sauce in the bottom of a 9X13 pan. Place about 1/4 cup potatoes (amount depends on the size of your tortillas) in each tortilla and roll. Place in the pan. Continue with all the tortillas. Top the enchiladas with the sauce, making sure to cover all exposed tortilla. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 10-15 minutes, until the cheese is melted.

Kay: I don't like to put sauce on mine but I put Mole sauce on to the bottom of the pan so it won't stick. Then, I put extra cheese on the top. I don't like my potatoes spicy so Mom lets me put the spice in my own potatoes and no garlic.

They are awesome! If you like potatoes and tortillas, then you will like this recipe.

Mom: I know it seems strange to use instant potatoes but I've found that they really work better in this recipe. If I have left over "real" mashed potatoes though, I'll use them.

The three of us always have to be different but this is one recipe where I can still put them all in the same pan. I prefer mole sauce on mine and I use a plain store brand can of prepared mole. Bill (or Dad) prefers enchilada sauce. Here is the recipe I use for that:

Put 1/4 cup oil, 1/4 cup chili powder and 2 tablespoons of flour in a skillet. Heat over medium heat for about 2 minutes. Add 8 oz tomato sauce, 1 1/2 cups water, and 1/4 tsp each of cumin, garlic powder, and onion powder. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes.