My mom didn’t cook often, but when she did, she could really cook.

The sight of her standing in our kitchen, placing corn tortillas in pans of hot red sauce always filled me with excitement – not only because I knew I would soon be munching on delicious enchiladas, but because I knew I would soon be eating a meal made with undeniable love.

Of course, before I was vegetarian I would eat enchiladas the traditional way – with chicken or beef – but I have learned to compromise with black beans and corn, which can be just as tasty as meat if paired with the right ingredients.

For example, soyrizo is a great addition to the corn and bean innards because it has a Mexican flair and that authentic chorizo flavor many people love without the ground pork it’s usually made with.

Instead, soyrizo products, of which there are several brand options, are made with a soy base and many spices.

Some say the meatless alternative isn’t spicy enough, but that problem can be easily fixed by adding diced jalapeno, or any other hot peppers, to the soyrizo during the cooking process.

The most important ingredient for a heavenly batch of enchiladas is the cheese.

The special Mexican dish can lack any filler ingredient – meat, olives and onions – but if it lacks cheese, all the dish would be is a bland mess of saucy tortilla casserole with no gooey scrumptiousness about it. I like to use grated mozzarella, cheddar or a mexican blend cheese.

Heat a pan with two tablespoons of oil over medium-high heat. Squeeze in half a tube of soyrizo and crumble with a spatula then fry for a few minutes.

Add in corn and cook 3-5 minutes until corn is slightly roasted and thoroughly coated in soyrizo bits.

Next, stir black beans into corn and soyrizo mixture and allow to simmer for 5 minutes on low heat until most of the moisture from the beans has evaporated. Remove the pan from heat and set aside until ready for use.

Spray a 9-by-9-inch casserole dish with nonstick spray or coat with oil and set aside.

Heat a pan over medium heat with 1/4 cup of oil.

Individually place each tortilla into the pan of hot oil for a few seconds – any more time will tear the tortillas – and immediately transfer to the casserole dish. Make sure to completely cover the bottom of the dish with tortillas; about five tortillas per layer usually does the trick.

After the first layer of tortillas is down, cover it in one-third of the enchilada sauce and spread evenly over the top. Take one-third of the batch of the corn and bean dish and spoon small bits over the top. Make sure to cover the layer in this mixture evenly throughout and continue this process two more times.

After the last layer of tortillas has been laid down, pour the last of the enchilada sauce over it and top it off with cheese and sliced olives.

Janice Daniels can be reached on twitter @janiceemelia