Given that I’ve been pretty MIA from the blog the last couple of weeks, I felt like I needed to make my absence up to my readers by making a really good dish: savory rhubarb strawberry black bean enchiladas. Rhubarb and strawberry is not usually a combination you’ll find in savory dishes. That said, the real genesis for Fix Me a Little Lunch came in the summer of 2010 when we signed up for our first CSA. CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. Basically, how it works is you pay up front at the start of the growing season for a share of produce that you receive every week. Many CSAs will do two sizes of shares - one to feed a larger family and one that’s smaller and fairly manageable for a couple.
Our first CSA was from an organic farmer in Southern Oregon. We got to know our farmers - had the chance to tour the farm and get to know more about how they produced the food we were eating each week. However, we quickly became overwhelmed with the variety and abundance of produce we were getting. I quickly turned to the blog world for help, discovering some of my all time favorite recipes and blogs in the process (which eventually became the inspiration to start my own food blog). One of those recipes was a savory rhubarb and adobo chili enchilada. I’d never had rhubarb in a savory dish before and I was immediately hooked. The combination of sweet and spicy was so good.
This savory rhubarb strawberry black bean enchiladas is a riff on that recipe. I bought the rhubarb specifically for this recipe, but had extra strawberries from our last farmer’s market run. We are sharing a CSA share with another couple this season, but so far, it’s mostly been greens (arugula, bok choy, and lettuce). We’ve been getting our strawberries from the farmer’s market. While tomatoes might not do well in this climate, apparently strawberries love it, so there’s that.
Anyway - this recipe for savory rhubarb strawberry black bean enchiladas is a combination of sweet, savory and spicy. It’s quick to make and freezes like a dream. It’s perfect for lunch, especially with a little mashed up avocado on top and a few pinches of sea salt.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 onion, diced
- 2 cups rhubarb, chopped in 1/2 inch pieces
- 1/2 cup sliced strawberries
- 1 adobo chili, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 package corn tortillas
- 1 cup Monterey Jack or similar shredded cheese
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a medium sized sauce pan. Add the onions and saute until they are lightly browned. Add the rhubarb, strawberries, adobo chili, and salt and cook, stirring occasionally for 20 minutes or until the rhubarb is soft.
- In a 8 x 8 glass pan, layer two or three of the corn tortillas on the bottom. Spread half of the rhubarb mix on top. Layer another two corn tortillas. Layer half the beans and 1/2 the cheese. Layer another two corn tortillas and then the rest of the rhubarb mixture and the remaining beans. Top with two or three corn tortillas and then the remaining cheese.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until cheese is lightly browned and melted.
- Serves 4. Enjoy!
