I admit, unless The Nudge mentions chicken enchiladas, I would never make them. I am a Chile's Rellenos person myself and it's much more economical to go out to eat at this little, very authentic Mexican Cantina in town, then go to all the trouble to make both.
This time around, I surprised myself by not waiting for The Nudge to give a hint, I was the one that was craving enchiladas. Plus, I never used corn tortillas and I found a healthier and foolproof way to soften them.
I am sure there are as many types of enchiladas as there are avocados, but I like the Tex-Mex kind.
In order to not make a meal using leftovers, and create more leftovers, I pretty much put everything you would see on a Tex-Mex Enchilada Platter inside the tortillas.
All wrapped up in pretty little corn tortilla packages. If you have leftovers from your 4th, this is the perfect dish to use them in.
I had a 1/4 pound of ground meat, chicken harvested from a Beer Can Chicken last weekend, small containers (about 1/4 cup) of corn, black beans, green chilies, one jalapeno, a quarter of a red pepper, a container of homemade enchilada sauce in the freezer and a can of Mexican Crema. The only things I had to buy was corn tortillas, Jack cheese and salsa Verde.
After I made the filling I realized I would have more than enough for 10 enchiladas so I made a package for my neighbor and shipped it over.
So, what else could you roll a tortilla around?
If I had rice that would be in there, I have seen zucchini hidden in them, bitter greens, pork chops, a mix of cheeses, chopped up seafood and ham & eggs (oh, yes).
What I like the most about enchiladas is, you can let everyone customize them by setting out condiments. Spicy salsa, avocado, sour cream, pickled jalapenos, chipotle sauce, slices of lime and shredded lettuce.
What ever you tuck into those corn tortillas, will be tasty and healthy, as long as you use low fat cheese and lite sour cream (or yogurt), so enjoy your dinner and clean refrigerator.
Woo Hoo!!
Ultimate Enchiladas
Prep time: 40 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Yield: 10 enchiladas
* 1 can enchilada sauce or 1 1/2 cups homemade
* 10 corn tortillas
* 1/4 pound cooked ground meat
* 4oz cooked chicken meat
* 1/4 cup corn
* 1/4 cup black beans
* 1 can chopped green chilies
* 1 jalapeno, chopped
* 1/4 cup roasted red pepper, chopped
* 1 tablespoon Taco seasoning
* Canola oil
* 6 oz Lite Pepper Jack cheese, grated
* 1 cup salsa Verde mixed with 1/4 cup Mexican crema or lite sour cream
1. Mix meat, corn, beans, green chilies, jalapeno, red pepper. Taco seasoning, salt & pepper and 2 spoonfuls of enchilada sauce.
2. Heat a cast iron pan with 2 teaspoons canola oil until hot and smoking.
2. Add one corn tortilla and fry for 2-3 seconds. Lift up with a spatula and place another tortilla under the fried one and cook for 2-3 seconds, lifting up the stack and placing another underneath. Repeat with 5 tortillas and place them on a paper towel lined platter and cover with an inverted paper plate.
3.Using the inverted paper plate as your work surface, place small handful of grated cheese in the center of the tortilla, a generous scoop of filling, and roll, starting at the bottom.
4. Cover the bottom of a baking pan with a ladle of enchilada sauce, and place each rolled tortilla, seam side down in the pan. Repeat until the pan is full.
5. Top with Creamed Salsa Verde and grated Jack cheese.
6. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes and then under the broiler for 3 minutes to brown the cheese.
