Saturday, February 7, 2009

Enchilada Casserole

Enchiladas are tedious to roll. I have found the lasagna layer method to be much quicker and tastes the same. Of coarse I stuff as much vegetables as I can into it and love to make it all from scratch including the sauce and the tortillas. I recently did a cooking class for a beginner and simplified this recipe greatly. You can have it in the oven with only 15 minutes of prep time. Still nutritious and tastes great.

2 teaspoons. olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped fine
1 bell pepper, chopped fine
2 teaspoon salt
3 cups spinach, chopped or 3 cups grated zucchini
2 cups cooked brown rice (millet and quinoa work nicely too)
1 lb shredded chicken
1/2 cups corn
1 recipe enchilada sauce
18 corn tortillas
4 cups shredded Monterrey jack cheese

Saute onions and peppers with salt in olive oil, 5 minutes. Cook spinach until wilted. Once softened add rice, chicken and corn to make filling. Pour 3/4 cup sauce to coat bottom of 9x13 pan. Layer 6 tortillas, spread half the filling on the tortillas, sprinkle with 1 cup cheese. Layer tortillas, filling, cheese again and finish with a layer of tortillas, pouring sauce over entire dish and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, or until cheese is browned in spots.

Enchilada Sauce

3 cups boiling chicken stock
2 tablespoon chili powder
3 cloves smashed garlic
2 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoon flour
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon cumin
2 teaspoon cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon honey
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Let chili powder and garlic steep in hot stock for 10 minutes. Blend in blender. Cook butter and flour in sauce pan on medium heat for 3 minutes, add spices, coca powder and salt. Slowly stir in the chicken stock. Let simmer 5 minutes, then add honey and vinegar. Make a double batch and freeze or can extra.

Simplified

12 ounces canned chicken
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 small onion, chopped fine
2 teaspoons salt
2 cups spinach, chopped (or shredded zucchini)
4 ounces diced green chilies
1/3 cups corn
12 ounces Trader Joe's enchilada sauce
9 corn tortillas
2 cups shredded colby jack cheese

Saute onions with salt in olive oil, 5 minutes. Add spinach, cook until wilted. Once softened add chilies, chicken and corn to make filling. Pour 1/3 cup sauce to coat bottom of 8x8 pan. Layer 3 tortillas, spread half the filling on the tortillas, sprinkle with 1/2 cup cheese. Layer tortillas, filling, cheese again and finish with a layer of tortillas, pouring sauce over entire dish and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, or until cheese is browned in spots.

9 comments:

  1. Hi Kara,
    I linked to your blog, which I love, through Shari Goodman's blog. I have 3 children that are similar ages to yours, and I would love to know what kind of nutritious snacks you give them. My email is teresabsmith@gmail.com.
    I would love to hear back from you!

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  2. Hi Kara,

    Thanks so much for all the great info on your blog. I also found it through Shari Goodman's. (I read the comment above and would also love to know about healthy snacks for kids if you wouldn't mind emailing me, too! tribefam@cox.net) I am curious if you ever have done a class about pressure cooking? I just got one of the cuisinart pressure cookers for Christmas and am a little daunted getting started. I did use your recipe for stock last week and had my first success. Thanks for it! My whole family was sick and I was able to make some great chicken noodle soup. Thanks for taking the time to blog about nutrition. I am really trying to get my family eating better, but feel a little overwhelmed while trying to do so. Thanks for making it a little easier!

    Jennifer

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  3. Can I ask...when making this recipe, do I put the cooked brown rice in the filling part with the peppers/onions/chicken? Thanks for the help!

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  4. Yes, the rice goes in with the chicken. I fixed the directions, thanks.

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  5. Have you ever made this ahead of time and frozen befor you baked it? Was it successful?

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  6. I have froze this before baking. The texture becomes slightly mushy and less sauc-y. I think next time I would leave off the sauce and cheese on top before freezing and add it just before I bake it.

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  7. I made open-faced enchiladas from this recipe tonight, just put the filling and sauce over cooked brown rice and topped with cheese, lettuce and tomatoes. It was delicious. A good option if you don't have tortillas (or time to make them). Thanks for the recipe!

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It's rude to eat and run. Humor me with conversation please!

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