Friday, March 5, 2010

Chicken Enchiladas

This is a signature dish of mine that I have been making since we were afraid of the Y2K bug. That may not seem like too long ago but it has been a decade, so there. This is a favorite of mine and my husband but the kids haven't come around just yet. It doesn't meet my son's dietary restrictions so this one will be for the adults. It is a good thing, then, that it is mac-n-cheese night* in our house.

Without further adieu, here is the recipe for today.

Chicken Enchiladas
Serves 4-5
Ingredients
1 Small (4oz) Can Diced Green Chiles
1 Habanero Pepper, minced (optional)
2 12oz Cans of All White Meat Chicken or 4 Cooked Breasts of Chicken, chopped or shredded
1 8oz Package Philadelphia Cream Cheese, softened and cubed
8 Large Flour Tortillas, though you may only use 7 depending on how generous you are with the filling
1 C Freshly Shredded Cheese (I usually use Pepper Jack Cheese but had a block of Mozzarella on hand and used that instead)
1 C Plain Yogurt
1 C Milk
1 Package Mahatma Saffron Yellow Rice
1-2/3 Water
1 T Olive Oil
1/4 C Sour Cream

Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a large (10 inch) skillet with oil and over medium-high heat; combine the chicken, cream cheese, and peppers. Stir until the cream cheese is completely melted and all of the ingredients are fully combined.

Place 1/8 of the mixture into the center of a tortilla and roll it, folding in the edges.



Spray a 9X13X2 inch casserole dish with oil and place each tortilla roll into the pan, lining them up. They should fit snuggly into the pan. Top the enchiladas with the shredded cheese. In a separate bowl, whisk together the yogurt and milk until fully combined. Pour the yogurt mixture over the top of the enchiladas to cover completely.

Place pan into oven and bake uncovered for 30 minutes or until the edges are brown and all of the cheese is fully melted.

While the enchiladas are cooking, prepare rice according to package directions

Serve the enchiladas on rice with a dollop of sour cream and a side salad (our favorite is Caesar)

Tips
For softer and gooier enchiladas, top with additional yogurt mixture so that all of the tortillas are covered completely. This is a very healthy dish and can be made low fat by choosing low fat or fat free options for the cream cheese, yogurt, and milk.

NOTE: This is the recipe as I made it tonight. I used chicken breasts instead of canned chicken and forgot to saute a chopped onion to add to the filling...not sure why I flaked on the onion. If you want my authentic recipe, you would start by sauteing 1 chopped medium onion with the peppers and then adding cooked chicken and cream cheese. SORRY!

2 comments:

  1. This is almost identical to my chicken enchilada recipe! The biggest difference is that I use canned green chile enchilada sauce for topping. I will definitely try your recipe soon. Don't give up on your son who is able to eat these types of food. My boys both balked at this recipe for years, but at 9 and 7 have learned to love it. I used to make them a separate pan of cheese enchiladas, but always told them they had to taste one bite of mommy or daddy's chicken enchilada first. I remember the day Dawson, my younger one, said that he liked mine better than his! It did not take too long for big brother to come around.

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  2. This looks so easy and yummy! Dinner tomorrow...is served. Anything that contains cream cheese is A-OK with me.

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