Last night I met Katie at Dos Caminos for some shop talk (she also works at Meredith) and Happy Hour-ing. I had what I always have when I go to Dos Caminos, more for novelty’s sake than because I actually like it: a Corona Light poured over a shot of frozen margarita. I decided last night that I won’t be ordering the drink again – it’s a little sweet for me – but it’s a nice way to cocktail up a beer for someone who’s ordinarily more into mixed drinks, and a simple, interesting specialty drink to serve at a BBQ.
Anyway, our leftover guacamole just needed to come home with me (go HERE for Dos Caminos’ recipe, and HERE for my own), so I decided to stick with the theme and make chicken enchiladas for dinner. Fortunately, I already had most of what I needed in my refrigerator, thanks to leftovers from the previous night’s roast chicken dinner.
I make enchiladas in the quickest, simplest way possible (about 20 minutes start-to-finish, assuming you’re using pre-cooked chicken), so be forewarned: this is not a recipe for purists. For example, some say to heat tortillas stacked up in a frying pan in a little oil, or to dip them in homemade enchilada sauce before heating. I do not do either of these things, but you might want to. I also keep spiciness to the absolute minimum, because I don’t like heat, and we keep plenty of mouth-scorching sauces in the refrigerator to appease Kendrick’s tastes.
Recipe after the jump!
IMPROV-ED ENCHILADAS (serves 2)
What you need:
About 1 1/2 cups cooked chicken, shredded
1 small red onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 14oz can stewed tomatoes**
1/2 cup water
1 cup shredded cheese (I used Reduced-Fat Mexican Mix, but of course it’s better to shred your own)
Corn tortillas (I used mini ones and made 6 total)
Olive oil
Salt & pepper
A little chopped cilantro to garnish (optional)
What you do:
1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, saute the chopped onion in a little olive oil until translucent. Add the garlic and saute a minute or two more.
3. Add the stewed tomatoes to the saucepan and lower heat. Let simmer 10-15 minutes, breaking up the tomatoes if necessary, and adding water as needed to keep the sauce from getting too thick.
4. In a small bowl, combine about 1/2 cup of the tomato sauce with the shredded chicken, 1/3 cup cheese, and a bit of salt; mix well. The point is to evenly coat the chicken, not to have a ton of tomato flavor, so make sure not to sauce it too heavily.
5. Heat the tortillas in the microwave for about 30 seconds so that they’re softer and easier to work with.
6. Put a little more sauce in the bottom of a baking dish.
7. Assemble your enchiladas: just put a little of the chicken-tomato mixture in the center of each one, roll, and place in the baking dish (packed closely together; I was able to fit 6).
8. Top the tortillas with the rest of the sauce, and sprinkle over the rest of the cheese.
9. Bake about 10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubbling. Top with a little chopped cilantro, if desired, and serve alongside some refried beans, rice, guacamole, and sour cream.
**What I Did Wrong And How I Fixed It: The enchiladas ended up a little too tomato-y for our taste, but this was easily solved simply by scraping off a little of the sauce. Next time, I’d use about 2/3 of the can of stewed tomatoes, and I’d puree them for a few seconds with 1/2 teaspoon of sugar (to cut down on the bitterness) before adding to the onions and garlic to eliminate the larger chunks.
