I get so much pleasure out of teaching yoga and making connections with so many different people. One thing I have discovered, unexpectedly to tell you the truth, is that it is such a joy to teach yoga to families. Seeing parents engage with their kids on the mat…being silly together and being focused, making animal noises and playing games and then lying still at the end of the class.

Family Yoga Night has become something I so look forward to and thoroughly enjoy. After the class, we usually have a potluck (it’s a yoga thing!). This month, I made these yummy white bean enchiladas. I’ve made black bean/sweet potato enchiladas with red sauce for years. So I thought how about white beans with green sauce and it works perfectly. I adapted a recipe for the sauce from a cookbook I picked up while traveling in New Mexico last summer. It’s a winner.

I started by roasting vegetables for the filling and for the sauce. For the filling, I tossed cauliflower, yukon gold potatoes and onion with a little olive oil and salt and pepper and roasted it until the potatoes were softened and cooked through. For the sauce, I roasted tomatillos and poblano peppers ( a can of mild green chiles can be substituted for the roasted peppers).

I added a can of great northern beans to the roasted cauliflower mixture and mashed everything together in a large bowl. Meanwhile, to make the sauce I sauteed onions and garlic in a little olive oil. To thicken the sauce, I added potato starch instead of flour to keep it gluten free, but you could substitute all purpose flour with no problem at all. Then I whisked in some veggie broth and added the roasted tomatillos and peppers once the sauce started to get a little thicker. That mixture went in the blender and I had this awesome tangy green chile sauce.

To assemble everything, I placed a couple of spoonfuls of filling in a corn tortilla. It helps to warm the tortillas in a skillet for a minute if they are stiff. I placed the filled tortilla in a casserole dish that was coated on the bottom with some of the green chile sauce. Once all the enchiladas were in the pan I covered them with the remaining sauce. I topped it all off with a little cashew cheese mixture that is a breeze to whip up in the food processor. The whole thing bakes for about 20 minutes or until the sauce starts to bubble and the cashew mixture is lightly brown.

White Bean Enchiladas + Green Chile Sauce

(Sauce recipe adapted from The Santa Fe School of Cooking Cookbook)

Serves 4-6

Filling:

1/4 head cauliflower, chopped into large dice

8-10 yukon gold potatoes, chopped into large dice

1/2 sweet onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 can low sodium great northern beans, drained, reserving liquid

1/2 tsp ground cumin or to taste

Sauce:

3-5 tomatillos, quartered

1-2 poblano peppers, seeds removed and cut into large strips (or 1 small can of chopped mild green chiles)

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 cup onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbsp potato starch or all purpose flour

1 1/2 cups vegetable broth

1 tsp ground coriander or to taste

8-10 corn tortillas

salt and pepper

Cashew cheese (see recipe below)

Avocado, chopped

Filling:

Pre-heat oven to 400. Place chopped cauliflower, potatoes, onion and garlic on a rimmed baking sheet. Toss with olive oil and roast until potatoes are cooked through and soft when tested with a fork, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool slightly. Place cauliflower mixture in a large bowl and add the canned beans and cumin. Mash with a potato masher or fork until the mixture starts to come together adding the liquid from the canned beans if it seems too dry. Taste and adjust seasoning by adding salt, pepper and more cumin if desired. Set aside. Lower oven temperature to 350.

Sauce:

In a separate baking sheet, roast tomatillos and peppers until very soft, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside. In a saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and saute until soft, about 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic and saute another 2 minutes being careful not to brown the garlic. Stir in the potato starch or flour. Slow stir in the vegetable broth and cook until the sauce begins to thicken. Add the tomatillos, peppers and ground coriander and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 15 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer sauce to high powered blender and blend until smooth.

Assembly:

In a 13×9 glass or ceramic casserole dish, spread about 1/3 cup green chile sauce on the bottom. Heat corn tortillas in a dry skillet if they are stiff. Add about 2 spoonfuls of filling to the center of the tortilla and fold the sides in toward the center. Place the enchilada seam side down in the prepared dish. Repeat using the remaining tortillas and filling. Top enchiladas with green chile sauce and cashew cheese. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes until the sauce begins to bubble around the edges and the cashew cheese begins to brown. To serve, top with fresh avocado.

Cashew Cheese

Makes about 1 cup

1 cup raw cashews

2 Tbsp nutritional yeast

2 tsp coconut oil

salt and pepper

Add all ingredients into the bowl of a food processor. Mix until cashews a finely chopped and begin to clump together. Add more coconut oil if the mixture is too dry. Taste and adjust salt and pepper if desired.