Brian’s Mole Enchiladas

October 12, 2021

There is really only one golden rule when it comes to camping and cooking… avoid perishables, if you can. You may have a cooler with you, but fill it with beer instead of those chicken cutlets that you were eyeing. Cooler temperatures are hard to regulate and meat like poultry needs to stay at a consistent temperature to avoid bacteria growth. I’m not trying to scare you, but warn you so that when you’re 6 miles in on that hike the day after you had a chicken dinner, you will be sweating from exercise, not from lack of bathroom and not knowing what to do.

Dive into your inner vegetarian when you go camping. You most likely eat so much meat when at home, you’ll actually be doing your body a favor by giving it a little detox from it. The great thing is, a lot of vegetables can act as meat substitutes (but please don’t bring tofu on your camping trip unless you want your friend to chuck it into the woods). Vegetables like sweet potatoes, jackfruit, mushrooms, lentils, and beans all provide that meat “texture” while being super portable (with the exception of jackfruit unless you break it down beforehand) and long-lasting. With minimal cooking, limitless possibilities of mixing and matching, and a large variety of spices working on all of the vegetables, you’ll be feeling like a chef in no time.

Makeable with really anything you have on hand as long as you have tortillas and enchilada sauce, enchiladas really are one of the top contenders for easy meals in the outdoors. You may not have an oven, but there are easy hacks to make it seem like you do. With only one pan needed, you will be eating good and everyone is either going to be envious that you didn’t cook for them or grateful that you did.

Mole Enchiladas

1 bottle of La Morena Mole Sauce
Pack of flour or corn tortillas (smaller variation)
2 sweet potatoes (small cubes or pre-cooked)
Corn on the cob (trust me)
Black beans (slightly drained)
Queso Fresco cheese (or other Mexican cheese)
1 avocado
Cast-iron pan
Tinfoil
Cutting board
Blow torch (optional)
Two burner stove (Can be done on a single burner, but it’s just easier with a dual burner)

Pro-Tip: A cast-iron is pretty important for this recipe because it retains heat very well which helps during the “oven” process.

Instructions

Put your cast-iron pan on medium-high heat and add the sweet potato and black beans. Note, if you didn’t precook the sweet potato, you will need to cook them in the pan by themselves so they soften up. A nice brown to dark brown sear on the cubes is what you are looking for.

Simmer the sweet potatoes and black beans until there is only a tiny bit of liquid left in the pan. Remove from heat.

Set up your enchilada station with the tortillas.

Add about 2 big tablespoons of filling to each tortilla and roll up into a cigar-like thickness. Place back into the pan. This should make around 6-8 enchiladas.

Once you have made all of the enchiladas, pour the La Morena Mole Sauce over the top of the enchiladas.

Start your stove back up on high heat. The key is to generate a lot of heat quickly without burning the bottom of the enchiladas.

Wrap the top of the cast-iron pan in tin foil, and place the pan on the stove for 3-4 minutes max. This will create your oven effect that will help heat up the mole sauce and all of the other ingredients.

Let the pan sit off of the burner for another 5-7 minutes.

While the pan is sitting off the burner, grab your blow torch and the corn on the cob and have fun. Char the corn to really bring out the sugars in the corn.

Pull the tin foil off the of the pan and there should be some steam that shows the process worked. If the process didn’t work, no worries! Throw the pan back onto the stove and just brown the tortillas.

Cut the corn off the cob directly onto the enchiladas, place the avocado on top and then sprinkle a heavy amount of queso fresco on top of it all.

Eat!

Brian Flick

When he’s not climbing, skiing, or trail running, Brian can be found building out menus for fictitious restaurants or baking cookies for friends. Proud achievements include summiting Longs Peak, delivering solar lights to remote tribal villages in Thailand, and listening to an entire audiobook on quantum physics during a half marathon.