How NOT to make Chicken Enchiladas
April 18th, 2006
In all honesty, I have to confess that I goofed last night when making the evening meal. Our chicken enchiladas turned out okay, but for one little mistake I made…
You see, I had two meal’s worth of leftover grilled chicken - enough for enchiladas, which was already in my plan for the week. On Saturday, I had grilled a mixed bag of meat - salmon, burgers, and chicken. Then on Sunday, we had friends over and I grilled chicken for them.
The problem arose when I started chopping the chicken and found a small piece of salmon. Well, being the optimistic and frugal chef that I am, I couldn’t stand to toss that little piece of salmon in the garbage disposer. I (optimistically) thought I could chop it up and throw it in with the chicken. I figured one of two things would happen: a.) No one would notice or b.) it would deliciously enhance the flavor of our enchiladas.
HA! The joke was on me. First of all, you cannot disguise the flavor of a strong fish like salmon with chicken. Secondly, salmon does NOT belong in enchiladas.
Moral of the story: Optimism is not always well-placed. Neither is salmon.
Below is the REAL way to prepare enchiladas. Not being confident with Mexican food, I typically buy prepared sauces or mixes for my Mexican dishes.
A tip for you if your kids hate Spanish rice: try preparing it without the added can of crushed tomatoes. For years, my children refused to eat Spanish rice until one day I happened to be out of tomatoes and made it without them. Kids loved it and I have to say, I think hubby and I enjoy it more that way, too.
Chicken Enchiladas
makes 8 / prep. time: 15 minutes / cook time: 20 minutes
2 c. cooked chopped chicken
2 c. shredded cheddar or monterey jack cheese
1 jar Pace enchilada sauce
8 corn or flour tortillas
1 box Zattaran’s Spanish rice mix
a little chopped lettuce
sour cream
In a large bowl, combine all of the chicken with 1 cup of the cheese and 1/2 c. of the enchilada sauce. Next, pour about 1/2 cup of the sauce into the bottom of a greased 9 x 13 baking dish. Put a big spoonful of the chicken mixture into each tortilla and roll it up - placing the seam side down into the baking dish. When they’re all filled and rolled up, pour the rest of the sauce on top of them and sprinkle the other cup of cheese over all. Now they are ready for the oven - let it preheat to 350 degrees F.
While your oven is heating up, prepare the rice mix as directed, leaving out the tomatoes if you are not a big fan of Spanish rice. The timing is perfect if you put the enchiladas in the oven at the same time the rice comes to a simmer.
While all that is cooking, chop a little lettuce and get the sour cream out to spoon on top of the enchiladas.
Enjoy!
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