Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Enchiladas Verde

This is a recipe I first made after our first visit to Austin. We'd returned to Cleveland, Ohio, where we were living at the time, and I was craving enchiladas and tacos like crazy.

These enchiladas are not necessarily authentic tex-mex, but they are mighty tasty. And easy. You can even make them the night before, and then when you get home from work, just pull them out of the fridge to warm a bit while you preheat the oven. Then bake as usual. They're also great re-heated for lunch the second day. And they're from Cooking Light, so go ahead and eat that third one.



Chicken Enchiladas with Salsa Verde
adapted from Cooking Light

Serves 4... or 2 for dinner, with leftovers for lunch

1 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (I'm a big fan of cilantro, and usually add twice this amount)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 (7-ounce) bottle salsa verde (I usually use Herdez brand)
2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast - use leftovers from a chicken roast, or pick up a rotisserie chicken from the grocery
1/3 cup (3 ounces) less-fat cream cheese, softened
8 (6-inch) corn or flour tortillas
1/4 cup (1 ounce) crumbled queso fresco or mexican blend cheese
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
4 lime wedges

Preheat oven to 425°.

Combine first onion, cilantro, garlic and salsa verde in a blender or food processor; process until smooth. Combine chicken and cream cheese in a large bowl. Stir in 1/2 cup salsa mixture. Set the rest of the salsa aside.

Coat a 11 x 7 inch baking dish with cooking spray.

If you're not working with fresh and soft tortillas, microwave them in a slightly damp paper towel until warm and soft. Spoon about 1/4 cup chicken mixture down center of tortilla and roll it up. Place tortilla, seam-side down, in baking dish.

Pour remaining salsa mixture over enchiladas; sprinkle evenly with cheese and chili powder. Bake at 425° for 18 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Serve with lime wedges.

I usually also serve rice and beans on the side.

1 comment:

Christopher Feran said...

I've had a lot of success with this recipe using a chicken I prepare myself:

Combine chili powder, black pepper (I use freshly ground pepper), salt (sea salt, obviously), ground cumin, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, and a little more chili powder for good measure in a bowl. Take chicken tenderloins (or chicken breast that you've butterflied) and pat the spice mixture onto each side. Let sit in the fridge for at least a half hour.

Pan fry in 2tbsp oil. Once it's cooked through (or mostly through--you're going to bake it again later) shred it using a fork.

Changing the spice preparation will also change the flavour...sometimes I like to use cilantro and oil. It depends on my tastes.

Voila!