Vegan slow-cooker enchiladas for an easy dinner on Meatless Monday

No one's saying you have to go meatless just because it's Monday -- but as incentive to join the growing movement, every week we're offering an animal-free recipe.

This recipe is quick and easy to prepare the way we've laid it out -- complete with a few shortcuts. But even so, you not only get a homemade dinner...but one that's absolutely awesome.

You will need:

1-2 bunches spinach (about 2 cups chopped) -- you can also use a frozen 10-ounce package, thawed and drained. 1 ear of corn (or 1 cup frozen corn) 1 can black beans 1 jar salsa (something extra flavorful -- garlic and cilantro, or black bean and corn for extra protein) 1 jar green chile 2 teaspoons cumin salt and pepper to taste 6-8 corn tortillas

You can preheat a griddle on your stove (or your grill outside!) to grill the corn -- but you don't have to. If you're using frozen spinach or corn, ignore the spinach and corn prep instructions.

1. Wash and thinly chop the spinach. 2. Drain and rinse the black beans. 3. Shuck the corn and grill until you have marks on each side. (I like to grill more than one ear while I've got the grill fired up and eat the rest as a side dish later in the week.) Beautiful. Now plug in your slow cooker. Cut the corn off the cob. 4. Place the beans, spinach, corn, salsa and cumin in a large bowl. Mix everything together and add salt and pepper to taste. 5. Wrap the tortillas in a clean towel and nuke them for thirty seconds or so to limber them up (you can also grill them). Turn the slow cooker on low. 6. Open the jar of green chile and spread a thin layer on the bottom of the slow cooker. 7. Holding the tortilla in one hand, fill it with 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup of the mixture -- if using only 1/4 cup, you'll have some mixture left over for later and can make another batch. Place each rolled tortilla seam-down in the slow cooker. Keep going ... The tortillas might break if you stuff eight in, but that doesn't matter. Pour the rest of the jar of green chile over the rolled tortillas and cover with the lid. Cook on low for an hour and a half to two hours, until hot all the way through. This recipe makes enough for four really hungry adults.