Cheesy Southwestern Chili Enchiladas

Happy New Year dear followers! Hope your new year is off to a great start and everyone is making good on their resolutions. They are not the easiest things to stick to. I know that first hand. This year I've decided to make mine a little more attainable, if you will. Budgeting has never been my thing, ever. But I've tried and tried and I always say this time I'm going to make it work. Well then comes along the cutest pair of wedges you ever did see... Story of my life. Shoes are one of my weaknesses. 

Food however, is my downfall. So I've decided this is where I need to make necessary cuts. I go to the store, stock up on what I think I need (think being the key word here) and as many people out there experience, half of it goes to waste. Produce mostly. It's costly and if not used within a few days it goes bad. Compost bucket full of dollars. Dollars I don't have to spend on compost. 

What to do? Recycle the ingredients I buy. Why didn't I think of that before? There's a whole time slot on Food Network devoted it stretching your dollars by using the same ingredients in several different recipes. And, now that I'm being more frugal and really paying attention to my food budget I can eat for days on just a few things from the store. 

I was craving my summer veggie casserole so I went and bought all the stuff to make it. I made a small one for dinner and had a lot of vegetables left over so I combined it all in a container and saved it for the next day. I used some for vegetable and cheese quesadillas, a quick and easy lunch or dinner option, and used the rest to make a vegetarian chili.

2 cups diced mixed veggies: squash, zucchini, red/orange peppers, onion

1 can petit diced tomatoes w/ juice

1/2 can black beans

1/2 can red kidney beans

2 cups water

1 packet low sodium chili seasoning

Super easy, and healthy. It was a cold day so it was perfect. But I didn't eat it all. I was craving enchiladas but didn't have everything to make it so I improvised. This is what I came up with. And I have pictures! So you can see just how easy this was. It only took about 5 minutes to throw together and I had another delicious and healthy meal. 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. And grease your baking dish.

The first thing I did was make some rice. Any kind you like will do. I had some basmati on hand. Just follow the directions on the package. Then strain off the liquid that's in the chili into a sauté pan. Reduce by half over medium heat. While that's reducing mix the rice into the veggie/bean mixture.

Add some cheese to your tortilla shells.

I used some pepper jack cheese leftover from my veggie casserole but feel free to use whatever you like or have on hand.

Add the rice mixture.

Roll it up! 

Fold in the sides.

Then pull over the end closest to you. 

Then finish rolling it up. 

This is how our sauce should look. 

You're really just evaporating water and chili seasoning but the starch in the beans will also help it to thicken. YUM!

Spoon that over each tortilla roll. 

Sprinkle with a little more cheese.

Bake to perfection. 

About 10-15 minutes. Just until it's bubbly and golden. 

Cheesy Southwestern Chili Enchiladas (because they're made from chili - the soup, not the pepper)

Roughly:

1/2 cup prepared rice

1 cup veggie mix

3 flour tortillas

3/4 cup pepper jack cheese

1/2 cup chili sauce reduction. 

Heat over to 350. Grease baking dish. 

Combine rice and veggies. Add cheese and veggie mix to tortilla shells and roll up. 

Heat wide, shallow sauté pan over medium high heat. Add liquid from chili and reduce by half. Spoon over tortillas and top with extra cheese. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until bubbly and cheese is melted and golden brown. 

Enchiladas Sin Queso

I got this recipe from the same friend who gave me the Cafe Rio Pork recipe. It does not disappoint. A big plus to this meal, it's not only delish, it's very healthy for you and your wallet.
I added my own little touches to it. I'll post the original recipe as well as my changes.


Ingredients:
1/2 cup finely chopped white or Spanish onion
2 Tbs canned diced green chilies
2 cups cooked black beans
1/2 cup fresh or frozen corn (do not thaw)
1/2 cup zucchini, diced
1/2 cup summer squash, diced
1/4 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
24-30 oz Enchilada Sauce (recipe at bottom)
Ten 5" tortillas


My Ingredients: (I add just a itty bit of cheese)
1 medium white onion, finely chopped
1 small zucchini, diced
1 small yellow squash, diced
1 4 oz. can diced green chiles
1 14 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 tbsp. dried cilantro
Zest & juice of 1 lime
Salt & Pepper to taste
Eight 5" tortillas
10 oz. can red enchilada sauce
1/4 cup of shredded jack cheese

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 F.
Lightly oil a 9x13 pan and cover the entire bottom of cooking dish with Enchilada Sauce, just until coated.
Combine onions, green chilies,  black beans, corn, zucchini, squash, cilantro, and 6 ounces of Enchilada Sauce in a medium bowl.
I don't use corn and I don't add the enchilada sauce to the filling. Add all of cheese to the filling and combine.
Heat tortillas, five at a time, for 30 seconds in microwave to soften.
Fill each tortilla evenly with bean/vegetable mixture, roll, and place seam side down in cooking dish.
When all enchiladas have been assembled, pour remaining Enchilada Sauce over them.
Bake for 25 minutes covered in foil.

Mang-o-licious Tacos

So, I wanted tacos for dinner. But I didn't want my plain old tacos with ground beef and taco sauce. My Love for mexican inspired dishes and my spontaneous creativity got me thinking about trying something a bit different and on a hot summer day nothing is more refreshing than my Grilled Chicken Tacos with Cucumber Mango Salsa. This is so easy to make and will definitely quench your appetite. I almost couldn't eat it because I was drooling over it so much. Which garnered me enough "you're so weird" stares from my boyfriend I just had to give in and taste it. IT WAS SOO GOOD! Sweet, savory and juicy with a bit of crunch and a lot of YUM-O. Just enough flavor and texture to make your taste buds tango to taco heaven!

My muses for this recipe are the Mango Chicken Salad from Qdoba and some mango salsa covered crab cakes I had once at a local eatery. They were sooo good! But I like being in control of what goes into my food and onto my plate. It's much healthier for you when you're in charge of what goes in and what stays out. So please do try! I guarantee it will be a crowd pleaser.

Mango Salsa

1 small cucumber - seeded

1 mango

1/2 red onion

1 jalapeno - If you like it spicy leave the seeds. If you don't scrape them out. Or just scrape out some of them for a medium heat.

juice of 1 lime

1 tablespoon of honey

about a teaspoon

or so of dry or fresh cilantro

pinch of salt and pepper

Dice the first 4 ingredients into small, evenly sized pieces. Toss with remaining ingredients then cover and let it hang out in the fridge while you prepare the chicken.

Pollo

1 pound - boneless, skinless chicken breast. (I like chicken tenders for this)

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon ancho chili powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Clean the chicken and pat dry. Lay aside in one even layer. Mix the dry ingredients together and sprinkle evenly over chicken. Flip the chicken over and repeat.

If cooking the chicken on the stove top: Pre-heat skillet to med-high and add a few tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Add the chicken and cook through. About 10-12 minutes flipping once.

If cooking the chicken on the grill: Pre-heat the grill on the lowest setting. Brush the grill with some of the olive oil so the chicken doesn't stick. Add the chicken. Brush the chicken with the olive oil. After half the cook time flip the chicken and brush with more olive oil. Chicken will be done in about 10-12 minutes.

Once the chicken has cooled slice it into strips for your tacos. Fill steamed flour taco shells with chicken and salsa. Top with your favorite toppings or nothing at all and ENJOY!!

Let's think outside the box on this one. This manga salsa isn't just for tacos. Use your imagination to put it on some of your favorite foods. It might be mango but it's still salsa!

Mexican at your casa es muy fácil

I love mexican food! Or at least the americanized version. I've never been to Mexico so I can't say I know what authentic mexican taste like. But all the restaurants I've been to claim they are authentic so unless I'm told otherwise I'm going to go with it. I'm always trying to come up with something new to try at home and lets face it, when we think of mexican at home we think tacos. I mean after all, it's not called taco Tuesday because of fajitas! Well I do love my tacos but I needed something new to try out. Some different ingredients to mix together that help me make something delicious and save time. So after much consideration I thought I'd try my hand at an enchilada.

Now, according to Wikipedia an enchilada is "a corn tortilla rolled around a filling and covered with a chili pepper sauce." I'm not a big fan of corn tortillas so I use tortillas made from flour. So I guess you could call mine a burrito covered in enchilada sauce. Regardless, it was quite tasty. Comparable to what I'd find out at a restaurant and I don't have to tip! And it's sooo easy to make! So try it out and see for yourself! I bet you'll be replacing taco Tuesdays with... umm...enchilada Tuesdays?

You will need!

1 10oz can of Rotell Mexican lime and cilantro - do not drain

1 package of taco seasoning

1lb boneless/skinless chicken breast tenders

1 10oz can of red enchilada sauce

4 grande burrito tortillas ( I like flour but if you like corn go for it!)

8oz shredded mexican blend cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Pour the rotell in a medium sized skillet over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Add the chicken and cook until the chicken in halfway done. About 3-4 minutes. Turn the chicken to finish cooking through. About another 3-4 minutes. When you turn the chicken put a lid on the skillet. When the chicken is cooked through take it off the heat. Take only the chicken out and let it cool down for a few minutes. Then shred the chicken. Add the shredded chicken back into the pan. Add the taco seasoning, mix well and set aside. Meanwhile, put the tortillas between 2 moistened paper towels and pop them in the microwave for one minute. This is make them easier to work with during assembly. When the tortillas are done take one and sprinkle with a little cheese. About a tablespoon and a half should do. Spoon about a quarter of the chicken onto the tortilla and roll into a burrito. Fold in the sides and roll from the bottom up. Repeat for the other 3 tortillas. Place the burritos in an 8x11 glass casserole dish that's been sprayed with non-stick spray. Cover with the enchilada sauce and sprinkle on the rest of the cheese. Bake for about 20-25 minutes. The cheese should be melty and the sauce bubbly.

Serve with spanish rice and refried beans! Top it off with a little sour cream and you're good to go for restaurant cuisine right in your very own kitchen!

Stay tuned for more restaurant quality meals right from your kitchen! And I'm not talking Bertolli...

Feliz comiendo!

Chau!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enchilada