Wow! You guys really stepped up to the plate to be featured this weekend in the I am a runner posts. I have enough for several weekends! Keep them coming though. If I get enough interest, I just might make this a regular feature every weekend or as much as I can depending on the number of people who want to participate.
Now, let’s get to something yummy!
***
Mexican food is something we are always cooking at my house. Brad’s repetoire of cooking is a vast arsenal of ways to use either tortillas or curry, so we eat a lot of Mexican, Indian, and Thai. They’re our go-to because we always have something on hand that either tastes good slathered in salsa or eaten with naan and our fingers.
So why has it taken me so long to make enchiladas?
I have no idea!
Chicken Enchiladas (makes four enchiladas)
4 large whole wheat tortillas
12 oz. chicken, cubed
1/2 green bell pepper
2 large spring onions (white part) or 1/2 white onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 spicy pepper, chopped (jalapeno will work)*
2/3 cup refried black beans
1 1/2 cup salsa
1 1/2 cups shredded cheese**
oil (I used extra virgin olive oil)
salt and pepper
Heat a bit of oil (~1 tsp or so) in a pan and cook chicken with a bit of salt and pepper until cooked through. Remove from pan and set to the side. Add a bit more oil and cook veggies (onion, garlic, peppers) until they are beginning to brown.
Lay tortillas out on a flat surface. On each spread in the center a quarter of the refried black beans. Place a quarter of the chicken and the veggies in each as well. Distribute about a 1/2 cup of the cheese onto each tortilla.
Roll tortillas and place in a baking sheet. If you place them “seam” side down, they will not unroll. Pour salsa on top of them and add more if you like. Spread over evenly with a spoon. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top of the salsa.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes or until cheese has melted.
*My pepper is some unidentified spicy pepper that looks like this. Could it be the elusive Hungarian yellow hot wax? I’ve never heard of such a strange name for a pepper.
**I used a blend of different cheeses, but cheddar, pepper jack, or havarti would be delicious IMO.
As you can see, my four enchiladas didn’t quite take up my massive casserole dish. I could have easily fit two more.
I also made roasted okra to go with our meal.
While I roasted the okra, we sipped on some watermelon jalapeno gazpacho. It is so refreshing!
Confession: I added about half a shot of vodka to the last cup yesterday and it made a refreshing cocktail, sipped out of a Mason jar. 😉
A big dollop of Greek yogurt was added and I found the whole meal to be delicious! Although I was not a huge fan of the enormous okra. Most of them were good as usual, but there were two pieces in particular that were almost as long as my enchilada. These extra-long pieces were impossible for me to chew.
Brad happily ate them for me.
Yum! I’m happy to add this to the long list of Mexican dishes we make.
What kind of non-American cuisine do you love to cook? Or, non-(insert your nation here)?