Chicken Enchladas

I have been making this shredded chicken enchilada ever since we got married and its always been a favorite of ours. I also make a vegetarian version as well: omit the chicken and double the veggies. It reheats well, my husband loves taking it to work with him because the enchilada keeps the rice moist. Before our son was to be born, I looked into freezer cooking. It's where you do a lot of the prep in advance and freeze the meal for later. I figured that with a newborn and a toddler, this might be a very good idea. But after looking a many recipes, I was disappointed because I found that way too much is going in the freezer: a can of beans, sauteed veggies, etc. I don't like mushy vegetables, and figured that to saute some bell peppers  and open up a can a beans takes close to no time. So I decided to take one of our favorite meals and just freeze the chicken. And it worked like a charm. I make the chicken in the crock-pot and also made my own enchilada sauce (you can purchase it canned in the Mexican aisle of your grocery store). 

Enchilada Sauce Recipe:

2 (8oz.) cans tomato sauce

1 cup water, or more if needed

1 can (4.5oz.) chopped green chiles, drained

1/2 package (1.25oz.) taco seasoning mix

1 Tbsp. chili powder

1 Tbsp brown sugar

Add all ingredients and heat in skillet, let simmer for about 10 minutes. Depending on your taste, you can add more taco seasoning or brown sugar. Or add a dash of cayenne pepper for more heat!

~~this makes a lot of Enchilada Sauce...since I knew I was going to make this for the freezer I used half to cook the chicken in, and the rest I froze so that it would be ready for our future enchilada night.

I put 5 lbs of chicken breast in the crock pot with half the enchilada sauce, and simmered on low for 6-7hrs.

Once the chicken cooled, I shredded the chicken (with my hands, found this is the fastest way, or with 2 forks if you prefer to be more civilized). I then separated the chicken evenly into 5 freezer bags. You can use this shredded chicken for other dishes too: tacos, burritos, tostadas, quesadillas, etc.

(If you want a fresh meal, just do 1-2 lbs of chicken breast, and once you have your chicken breast shredded, stuff your tortillas, and pop it all in the oven.)

The frozen ingredients

The fresh ingredients

saute, saute, saute

Adding the thawed chicken, beans, and enchilada sauce

Topping it all with cilantro, my favorite herb

Don't forget to save some enchilada sauce for the bottom of your pan
 and to pour on top at the end.

Stuffing the tortillas

Put the rolled tortillas seam down (so that they don't unwrap)

That's all I make for our family. Enough for dinner
and some leftovers for lunches.

Pour the remaining enchilada sauce on top.

Cover with cheese, the more the better ;)

Bake for 20 minutes

Enchilada Recipe:
1-2 lbs. shredded chicken
1 bell pepper, sliced
1/2 medium red onion, sliced
1 can of beans (black or pinto)
1 zucchini, halved and sliced -optional
1 cup of corn, frozen or canned -optional
1 pack of wheat tortillas, soft taco size
handful of cilantro, plus 2 Tbsp for cilantro lime rice
2 cups of enchilada sauce from above or a 1 10oz. canned enchilada sauce

1. Saute bell pepper, zucchini and onions in olive oil for a few minutes. Add beans, (corn), shredded chicken, and enchilada sauce. DON'T forget to reserve some enchilada sauce for the bottom of your pan, and some to pour on top at the very end. Top with cilantro. Cook all the ingredients together for a few minutes for the flavors to infuse.
2. Stuff the tortillas with about 1/4 cup of the filling. Roll them up and put seam down in prepared pan. Top with remaining enchilada sauce and cheese.
3. Bake in preheated oven at 350F for 15-20 minutes or until cheese is melted.

While the enchiladas are in the oven I make some Lime Cilantro Rice (Chipotle's copycat recipe):
1 cup white rice
1 Tbsp. butter
1 lime, juiced
3 Tbsp. cilantro, chopped
salt to taste

1. Bring 2 cups of water and salt to a boil, add rice. Simmer for about 10-15 minutes or until all the water has been absorbed.
2. Fluff up rice and add cilantro and lime juice. Add more to taste if necessary.

End Result: YUM!

This seems like a lengthy post, but it all comes together quickly! Hope you give it a try and ENJOY!!

Chipotle's Barbacoa AT HOME!

I always like the challenge of make a copy-cat recipe from a restaurant and seeing how closely the finished products compares. I wasn't planning on making this dinner idea a blog post but once I tasted the beef as I was shredding it, I could not resist. So that will explain why I don't have my normal picture of all the ingredients. Just snapped a few pics of the final thing. My husband & I love Chipotle and this recipe was absolutely fabulous! I used Eye of Round Beef Roast, and the chipotle peppers in adobo sauce gives it the nice smokey flavor (you can find these peppers in the Mexican section of your grocery store, they are canned). Since you only use 3-4 peppers, depending on the size of you meat, I froze the rest in a small tupperware. What I did so that it would be convienent for next time, I layered parchment paper between 3-4 peppers so that I would not have to defrost all the peppers, just the portion I needed. What I like about this food.com version of the recipe was that I was able to tweak the serving size until it showed the weight of the size of meat I bought, so that I would make the appropriate amount of marinade. They call for a piece of meat that is too big for my family, and since I had a 2.5lb piece, I tweaked it to 4 srvgs and it worked perfectly. It also works the other way if you have a larger piece or making this for a party!
So here is the link & enjoy:
http://www.food.com/recipe/chipotles-barbacoa-copycat-recipe-472445?scaleto=6&mode=null&st=true

I also had a side of white rice splashed with lime juice, cilantro and corn.
If you like Chipotle's rice here is the copycat recipe for it:
             http://restaurant.food.com/recipe/chipotle-copycat-lime-rice-recipe-147335

Layered Mexican Dip

How many layers? .....as many as you want!

I usually start with a taco seasoned sour cream, salsa, guacamole, refried beans, lettuce, tomatoes & lots of cheeeeeese.

Great appetizer for your next get-together.

recipe---> http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/ultimate-7-layer-dip-63313.aspx

Vegetarian Mexican Lasagna

Lately I have been turned off by meat and feel like I have been turning to more vegetarian options. I like to call myself a flexitarain...one who is a semi-vegetarian, but includes less meat than a typical diet, eating meat occasionally (brought to you by wikipedia ;) So I came up with this recipe:

VEGGIE MEXICAN LASAGNA

Ingredients:

1/2 of each: red, yellow and green bell pepper, cut into strips

1/2 red onion, cut into strips

1c. mushrooms, sliced

1c. zucchini, halved and cut into strips

1 can dk kidney beans

1 can 10oz tomato sauce (save 1/4c for bottom of casserole)

1/2c. salsa

2c. fresh spinach, cut thinly

1-2c. shredded cheddar cheese

chopped cilantro and parsley

salt & pepper to taste, if you want some heat add cayene pepper

sm. corn tortillas 6-12, depending how large of a portion you want

Directions:

1. Saute bell peppers, onions, and mushrooms until soft

2. Add beans, tomato sauce, and salsa bring mixture to simmer

3. Add spinach until wilted, and herbs & spices

4. I used a round casserole dish so I only needed one tortilla per layer, may use 9x13'' dish-->use 3 tortillas spread out per layer (don't forget to double the veggies then!)

5. Pour the reserved tomato sauce on bottom of casserole. Layer your ingredients: tortilla, then veggie & bean mixture, then cheese: REPEAT, ending with veggie & bean mixture. I do not add the cheese ontop until the last 5min of baking, that way your cheese is nice and melted and not hard and chewy!

6. Put casserole uncovered into a preheated oven 350F for 20min, add some cheese ontop and let bake for 5 more min. Let cool 5-10min before serving. Goes great with cilantro and lime rice :)

veggie and bean mixture

layer the ingredients

casserole right before the oven



FIESTA de SALSA

I had the privileged to go to a friend's house for a SALSA PARTY

Each one of us brought an ingredient, and spent our afternoon chatting & chopping. Then we layered our ingredients to our liking and preference. The result: fresh goodness!! And lots of salsa.

We made Pico de Gallo and a Corn Salsa

 

For the Corn Salsa we layered

*canned corn

*tomatoes

*red onion

*garlic

*jalepeno pepper (for heat)

*red & orange bell pepper

*cilantro
*lime juice

*sprinkle of sea salt

there is no "right" amount of the ingredients, it's what you like and how much of it you want!







Crank your neck to the left & read the Pico de Gallo recipe



Our work station

sitting back and enjoying the fruits of our labor!