My Motto

May the muffin rise to greet you, may your friends be always at your door, and until we meet again, warm a single-malt in the palm of your hand and make something homemade for someone you love.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Easy Weeknight Meal: Chicken Enchiladas

I drive way too fast to worry about cholesterol.  
~ Steven Wright
I admit that these might not pass as enchiladas in Mexico, or even Texas for that matter.  But in Connecticut they are saucy-cheesy, lick your plate, bad-ass enchiladas.  My daughter and her friends have been known to raid the fridge late at night and eat the leftovers cold.  I came up with this recipe one day based on what I had in the house, and it stuck.  Now we have them every couple of weeks and I've even made them for company (who then asked for the recipe).   You start with a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken, which makes them REALLY easy.  It only takes a few minutes to throw together the filling, and half an hour later, dinner is served!

Chicken Enchiladas

1 large (or two small) fully cooked rotisserie chickens, cooled (need at least 3 cups of chicken)
1 cup sour cream
1 10 ounce brick of sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (I use Vermont cheddar)
2 tablespoons cream cheese
1 8 ounce can tomato sauce
4 8 inch flour tortillas
1 (1 ounce) package low-sodium taco seasoning
1 (10 ounce) can enchilada sauce
1 (10 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed (optional)

Garnishes (all optional):
Red salsa
Salsa verde
Sour cream
Scallions, sliced
Iceberg lettuce, chopped
1 large tomato, chopped
Black olives, sliced

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Don a pair of dish-washing gloves and dismantle the rotisserie chicken, removing skin, getting as much meat as you can from it.  Chop chicken meat into 1 inch pieces; place in a large non-stick skillet.  Shred the cheddar cheese and place half of it in the skillet with the chicken.
Add sour cream, cream cheese and tomato sauce to the skillet as well.
Cook on medium high until all ingredients are combined and the cheese is melted.  Stir in taco seasoning.
Butter a 9x9 or 10x10 inch baking dish.  Place one tortilla in the prepared baking dish.  Sprinkle a stripe of black beans in a line down the center, spoon on chicken filling and roll up tortilla and tuck against the side of the dish, with the seam to the side or down.  Make next enchilada and repeat steps until they are all filled.  Pour enchilada sauce over and sprinkle remaining cheese on top.  Bake uncovered for 30-35 minutes or until bubbly and cheese is starting to brown.  Serves 4.
This recipe is easily doubled, for use in a 13x9 inch pan (to serve 8), by adding extra chicken at the beginning and stretching it to fill 8 tortillas instead of 4.  Then just pour 2 cans of enchilada sauce over instead of one.  Viola! It's that easy.






7 comments:

Donna S said...

Yum..I make something like this with cream of chicken soup. I use corn tortillas..but found a recipe for a GF flour tortilla and want to try them.
Love your stuff..see you later this month!

Veronica Culver said...

I love enchiladas and especially made with flour torillas vs corn. I'm from Texas originally and I can verify that these qualify as official Tex-Mex enchilads! Always a plus when you can get dinner on the table so quickly, too!

Best,
Veronica

Barbara | VinoLuciStyle said...

I needed this recipe! My daughter is coming over with some friends for dinner tonight and this was the perfect post at the perfect time for their dinner!

Margaret Murphy Tripp said...

@ Donna - So glad you can make these gluten free! Looking forward to seeing you!

@ Veronica - Thank you! You made my day. Yes, Gotta love when it's easy AND people get excited about dinner!

@ Barbara - So glad you're going to make them! If you're going to be serving more than 4, check out the very end of the post. I tell you how to do that without having to double the entire recipe. Please let me know how you like them!
Thanks All for visiting!

teri (teskandar) said...

I'm from Phoenix and I cook alot of mexican dishes including enchiladas. This recipe sounds great. It might replace my current recipe, with the addition of chopped cilantro. It brightens all my mexican dishes. Thanks for the post. Really enjoy following you on Twitter. Never boring.

Margaret Murphy Tripp said...

Hi Teri,
Thanks! I thought for sure all my Southwestern readers would be saying "she calls these enchiladas? Made with Vermont cheddar? Is she kidding?" Cilantro would be a great addition. Some chopped green chilis would be good too. As for Twitter...I have a lot of fun with that. And The Mister isn't complaining, because now he has full control of the remote and can watch all the golf channel (zzzzzz) his heart desires!

Jacquelyn said...

I love a delicious recipe that is EASY! Thanks for sharing!
~Jacquelyn