Easy, Cheesy, Enchiladas

To use up some chicken breasts that expire today, I decided to try out a recipe I've been eyeing up. Tyler and I love Mexican food. Pretty much all kinds. BUT, both of our favorite dish of all? Enchiladas, of course! This recipe is actually quite simple, but for some reason, I decided to make it more complicated than was necessary. Yes, I'm still learning, and we all make mistakes, right?!

I totally forgot to cook the chicken. *blushes* I made the sauce, pre-heated the oven, treated the baking dishes, and then...I remembered. I had no cooked chicken! At this point in the process, I realized that this recipe could be altered to make it much, much simpler. It calls for 4 shredded, cooked, chicken breasts, so my advice would be to save time, either use leftover chicken or turkey, or pick up a Rotisserie chicken at your grocery store. Anyway, mistake aside, this meal turned out wonderfully. I made 12 enchiladas, and stuffed them pretty full of cheese and chicken. Tyler and I were both able to eat 2 each, leaving us 8 (yes, I can sometimes do math)for leftovers.

One extra side note, I did an experiment. The recipe calls for this dish to be cooked in one 9 x 13 dish, but I'm not sure how that works as it only fits about 6 or 7 enchiladas. Hence, I divided the 12 into 6 per dish. In one of the cooking dishes, I used a thicker layer of cheese and sauce, and in the other, a lighter topping of both. The thinner covered dish came out with a perfect crunch to the outside of the enchilada, and a soft, moist interior. The other dish turned out some great enchiladas, as well, but they were much softer all the way through. Any way you cook them, enjoy!


Salsa Verde Sour Cream Enchiladas - seen on The Novice Chef, originally from the Homesick Texan, discovered on Sing For Your Supper Blog, modified by me!

4 boneless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
3 large cloves of garlic, minced
1 Jalapeno, seeded, minced
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups sour cream (I used reduced-fat and it was really rich)
16 oz jar Medium Picante Salsa
1 & 1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
12 flour tortillas, small fajita size
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar
1 cup shredded Monterrey Jack
1/2 medium onion, diced
Preheat the oven to 350. Melt butter over medium-high heat. Saute onions and Jalapenos until soft and then add the garlic, cooking for 1 minute. Stir in the flour and let cook 1-2 minutes. Whisk in the chicken broth until smooth and let cook until bubbly. Stir in the sour cream, salsa, cumin, cayenne, salt, pepper, and garlic powder until the sauce is smooth. Remove from heat.
Spray/grease two 9×13 baking dishes. Add 1 cup of sauce to the bottom of each pan. Add chicken and cheese to the center of each tortilla and roll, placing seam-side down in the dish. Pour the sauce over the enchiladas, top with leftover cheese, and bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until top is brown and bubbling.
Yields: 12-15 enchiladas

xoxo,
Emily