Enchiladas Verdes!

The leftover green onions and cilantro from the Green Hummus inspired me to create a Mexican recipe of some sort. I perused the pantry and found green enchilada sauce, a can of Rotel (which I usually use for stuffed portabellas!), and some green lentils. Lentils?! Well, truth be told, I had never even eaten lentils before. I picked them up, out of intrigue, on a shopping trip many months ago, and had no clue what I was going to do with them. 

If you're anything like me, Enchiladas Verdes top the list as one of the most delicious food ever... I can't get enough of that slightly tangy green sauce! I figured that if lentils didn't taste good smothered in green sauce, then they probably don't taste good at all. Hence, Enchiladas Verdes were born!

Here's what you'll need:

• 1 package lentils (cooked according to package directions)
• 1 can Rotel tomatoes (I had the Cilantro and Lime flavor)
• 1 cup (?) green enchilada sauce
• Small bunch of cilantro, stems removed and chopped slightly
• 3-5 green onions, chopped
• 1 package corn tortillas (I think mine were the larger size)
• 3/4 cup reduced fat Mexican cheese... plus a little more to sprinkle on top

This recipe took a little while, only because it takes a good 40-45 minutes to cook the lentils. (I cooked them about 35 minutes, assuming they would continue cooking in the oven, but that was not the case! They could have cooked a little longer on the stove.)

I ended up cooking the WHOLE package, which was a major mistake. Look how much I have left over (after filling 5 enchiladas) - probably 3+ cups!

While the lentils are cooking, cover the bottom of a casserole dish with a thin layer of green enchilada sauce.

In a bowl, combine Rotel, mexican cheese, chopped green onions, chopped cilantro, and lentils, when they are finished.

Warm corn tortillas in the microwave 30-40 seconds to make them nice and soft. Fill each tortilla with about 1/4 - 1/3 cup of the lentil filling, roll, and place seam-down in the casserole dish. I squeezed 5 enchiladas into my 8 x 8 dish.

Cover enchiladas with approximately 1 cup (I didn't measure...) of green enchilada sauce. Make sure they're covered well to prevent the tortillas from becoming too crispy. I ended up adding a little more sauce during cooking because they were looking a little dry.

Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes until cheese begins to brown and sauce is bubbling.

The enchiladas were rather difficult to remove from the pan without breaking, so the pictures of it out of the pan are not exactly beautiful (or appetizing!) but these enchiladas were quite delicious! The flavor combination was perfect. The texture of the lentils kind of reminded me of black beans (a little firmer than some other beans). In my eyes, if it has cilantro and/or green sauce, you really can't go wrong! Next time I might jalapenos to give it a bit more of a kick!

Now what am I going to do with all of those leftover lentils? Any ideas??