Dr. Gourmet's Food Reviews
Cali’flour Foods Chicken Enchilada Bake
Vegetable Enchilada Bake and Chicken Enchilada Bake
Just a few weeks ago we discovered Cali'flour Foods with their cauliflower-based Vegetable Lasagna and Lasagna with Meat Sauce. Both were good despite the fact that the boxes' description, "pasta made with cauliflower" is at best wildly inaccurate.
This week we have their Vegetable Enchilada Bake and their Chicken Enchilada Bake, both of which are gluten-free (as are the lasagnas).
Similar to the lasagna dishes, the packaging for these meals states "tortillas made with cauliflower" on the front of the package. Unlike the lasagna dishes, however, that description comes a little closer to accurate.
The Vegetable Enchilada Bake (250 calories, 330mg sodium, 5g fiber) is two layers of "tortillas" divided by a layer of sliced mushrooms, onions, and zucchini, and dotted with black beans. This is in a cheesy sauce that sings with bright tomatillo flavor.
It's the "tortillas" that really work here. As with the lasagnas, the "tortillas" are described in the ingredients list as a "cauliflower crust" that's made with cauliflower, mozzarella, and egg whites. In the context of the Enchilada Bake, this results in two layers with the texture of masa cornmeal - a little grainy, sweetish with the cauliflower (instead of the corn flavor of masa), and savory. They set off the savory vegetables and bright tomatillo sauce nicely.
I don't say this often, but this is one of the cases where I think just a little more salt - say, another 70 milligrams or so - would really bring out the flavor of the vegetables. As it is, it's really good.
The Chicken Enchilada Bake (290 calories, 440mg sodium, 5g fiber) is even better.
There are the same two layers of masa-like cauliflower, but this time the filling is tender chunks of white meat chicken, a few black beans, and both onions and green chiles.
This is much cheesier than the Vegetable version with the addition of Monterey jack cheese in the filling, and that's where the higher sodium comes from. That extra salt brings out the umami of the chicken, and the chiles along with the tomatillo sauce is just spicy enough.
Cauliflower as masa? That works.
Posted: November 6, 2020
Sometimes you just can’t make it into the kitchen to cook. Dr. Gourmet has reviewed over 1,000
common convenience foods, ingredients, and restaurant selections so that you know what’s worth
eating – and what’s not.
