Beef Enchiladas, Homemade Queso Sauce, and Mexican Cauli Rice

Beef Enchiladas and Queso Sauce with Mexican Rice

I wanted to make a gordita/enchilada hybrid. Back in public school, they used to serve us cheap gorditas: crappy ground beef, a super thick, fluffy tortilla (that's actually quite similar to a real gordita) tortilla, and some cheap nacho cheese. Alex really loves gorditas so I tried to do a fusion sort of dish. Unfortunately, because of the how similar the end product ended up being to an enchilada, he didn't like it. Oh well. If you like enchiladas you'll love these.

The rice is an interesting story. Wegmans just debuted cauliflower rice in the veggie market, and I wanted to come up with a recipe to showcase the new product. We had been doing Asian dishes for a while, so I wanted to do something different. We have a new red chile sauce too, and I wondered if I could use the chile sauce to make the rice look and taste like Mexican rice that you get in Tex Mex restaurants. The Wegmans brand chile sauce only seems to come in 24 oz. containers for now, and that seemed to be way too much for my needs for tonight, so I got Frontera's Red Chile sauce. The package says mild, and it may have been the Rotel (which I've never used before this) but the rice was quite spicy. Not reach-for-the-milk spicy, but definitely clear-your-nasal-passages spicy. I used the whole 8 oz. in my rice. Because of this, I'm recommending you use 1/3 c. of the sauce and then dong the 1 and 2/3 c. chicken broth option. Nevertheless, the rice turned out much better than I expected, especially with the homemade queso sauce on it.

Filling:
1 lb. ground beef
taco seasoning (I like Jack Scalfani's recipe here, it's in the description. Quadruple it, but only use 1/4 tsp. salt)
1/2 c. water

Brown the beef in a skillet with the taco seasoning. When the meat is nearly brown, add the water and let thicken a bit. Transfer meat to a bowl and set aside.

Queso:
1 c. unsweetened unflavored coconut milk
1 can Rotel original
1 tsp. minced garlic
3 slices pepper jack cheese
7 slices Cooper cheese
1 c. shredded white cheddar

In a medium saucepan, heat coconut milk and rotel until bubbling. Add in cheese bit by bit until smooth and creamy. Stir often during this process and don't let it burn. You can add extra Cooper cheese if you'd like a thicker queso.

Mexican Cauli Rice:
1/2 head cauliflower
1 c to 1/3 c. red chile enchilada sauce (1 cup makes very spicy rice, 1/3 will make medium rice)
1 c. chicken broth (1 and 2/3 c. if only using 1/3 c. of chile sauce)
1 can rotel original
1 red bell pepper, diced
4 Tbsp. butter, divided in half
1/2 pack of Splenda (about 1/4 tsp)

Wash and cut cauliflower into chunks small enough for your food processor. Process until pieces are rice-sized. Transfer to a microwaveable container and add 1/3 c. red chile sauce, 1 2/3 c. chicken broth, and the rotel. Microwave on high for 20 minutes. In a pan big enough for all the rice, fry the bell pepper in 2 Tbsp. of butter. When the rice is done in the microwave, add it to the peppers and add the extra 2 Tbsp. of butter and bit of Splenda. Pan fry the rice until 95% of the liquid has evaporated.

Other:
6 oz. white shredded cheddar
6 large low carb tortillas or 8 smaller ones

Topping:
1 c. chicken broth
1/2 c. heavy cream
8 oz. of red chile enchilada sauce
2 oz. shredded white cheddar

Mix the chicken broth and heavy cream in a pourable container. On a clean, flat surface, lay out a tortilla. Place 1/6th or 1/8th of the meat (depending on how many tortillas you have) on one end of the tortilla. Add 1/4 c. queso and a sprinkle of white cheddar. Tuck the ends in and roll up. Place seam side down in a baking dish. Repeat for all other tortillas. Pour over the topping mixture of cream and broth. Cover enchiladas in enchilada sauce. Sprinkle with cheese. Spray the underside of some foil and cover the dish. Bake at 350 F for about 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 5-10 minutes. Serve with the rice and the extra queso sauce.