Last week I made this dish for a mommy friend who recently delivered her fifth, yes fifth, baby. Making meals for families going through major life changes, be it a new baby, illness or move, is a priceless gift.

When R was born I experienced first-hand the beauty of friends and family rallying to provide sustenance and love through homemade meals. Again with G’s birth, although we were new to the city, our extended family and friends, including ones I knew only through library story time, came forward with amazing gifts of food. Both times, my gratitude was immeasurable, as trying to cook something or even make a PB&J at the end of day with a newborn was more than I could imagine.

For the meal I made last week, I was looking for a new “new baby” recipe to add to my repertoire that needed to fit a few criteria:

1. Able to be pre-made and heated at the mom’s convenience
2. Easily doubled to make enough for her family and ours
3. Not too spicy, but zesty and different
4. Healthful and natural
5. Not pasta

I added criteria number 5 because although I love a good pasta, from my experience, you get a *lot* of pasta dishes when people are bringing you meals. Not a complaint, just an observation.

The recipe below is the culmination of my tweaking and working on a recipe that can be easily altered for any taste. Don’t have pork? Use chicken, beans, beef or even seafood. Don’t like cilantro? Omit it. Not sure about the Greek Yogurt (really tasty, and a dead ringer for sour cream)? Open a container of sour cream instead. Don’t have whole wheat tortillas? Use flour or corn. You get the idea.

New Baby Enchiladas

8 whole wheat tortillas
2 cups of shredded pork carnitas
16 ounce container of fat free Greek Style Yogurt
1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground chili powder
½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
4 ounce can of diced green chilis, drained
3 green onions or scallions, minced
2 cups of shredded Mexican blend shredded cheese, divided use
1 cup of canned enchilada sauce or salsa verde

If cooking immediately, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix the pork, yogurt, cumin, chili powder, cilantro, green chilis, scallions and 1 cup of the cheese.

Take one tortilla and place approximately ½ cup of the pork mixture down one side of the tortilla. Roll up and place into a 9x13 pan, seam side down. Repeat with the remaining tortillas.

Cover the enchiladas with the enchilada sauce or salsa verde, top with remaining one cup of cheese.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until the top is slightly brown and bubbly.

Alternatively, cover with foil and place in the refrigerator. May be made one day ahead…once ready to cook, cook, *covered* for 30 minutes at 350 degrees, and then remove foil and cook until the top is slightly brown and bubble, about 15 more minutes.

Serves 4-6.

SPC