The anti-Mom CHEESY Spinach Enchiladas

Last night I went to Mom's and she had quesadilla appetizers waiting for me when I walked in the door. They were delicious. I couldn't get her to tell me exactly what was in them, a few dashes of dried Thai chile pepper, a tiny bit of curry — and just a smidge, I mean a smidge, of cheese.

I don't know how she can use so little cheese in a meal that is supposed to be mainly cheese, but she does it. So what do I do? I ruin it.

I know! That's what I get for following an Emeril recipe for Spinach Enchiladas. Loads and loads of cheese. I used queso blanco, cotija and pepper jack, not to mention the whole milk (which I substituted for half-and-half, thank you very much!) and the heavy cream thrown in there.

Besides substituting (whole) milk for half-and-half, I did one other good thing: I used kale in addition to the spinach, which gave the filling more body and flavor. So it wasn't completely unhealthy!

But it was oh so delicious, served with Dos Padres-Style Spanish Rice from Greg Atkinson's "West Coast Cooking," and refried beans from Crescent Dragonwagon's "Bean by Bean."