Sunday, March 29, 2009

Green Chile Enchiladas

I apologize for disappearing from the food blogging world for a while, but I've had a little case of morning sickness that hasn't made cooking or eating very pleasant. Well, now that I'm over that (mostly), I'm back to loving food, and hopefully can keep up a little better on my blog!!

These enchiladas are an original recipe that I created while I was in college. Evidently I was a little more creative then than I am now! So, for those of you who were my room mates, you have probably had these. I hadn't made them in a really long time and forgot how good they were, so I had to post them. They take a little time to do all of the prep work, like chopping the veggies, but they're really not difficult to make, and SO worth it!! They are excellent with either hamburger or chicken. This time my wonderful husband grilled the chicken, and they turned out really good! You can make these vegetarian by leaving out the meat. The flavor of the enchilada sauce is so good! Make sure you try these!

Ingredients:

28 oz can Green Chile Enchilada sauce, or more if you like it sausy (La Victoria is my favorite)
1 medium Zucchini, sliced
½ Bell Pepper (red, green, yellow, or whatever you like)
2 Carrots, grated
2 small Tomatoes chopped
1 medium Onion, chopped
1 15 oz can black beans, drained
1 lb. Hamburger or chicken
12 flour tortillas
½ pkg. Taco Seasoning
1 Clove Garlic
8-10 oz Jack or cheddar cheese, grated

If you are using hamburger, brown the meat. Add ½ package taco seasoning and half of the water called for, and continue to cook according to the package directions. If you are using chicken, drizzle chicken with 1-2 tsp of cooking oil and sprinkle with taco seasoning. Grill or saute until chicken is no longer pink. Once the chicken is cooled enough to handle, cut it into bite sized pieces.

Saute onion, bell pepper, and zucchini with a little bit of oil or cooking spray and garlic for just a couple of minutes, until they are tender. Don't cook them too long, or they'll become soggy. Add tomatoes and carrots last since they cook the fastest. (sorry for the steamy picture...but I love the beautiful color of the veggies once you put everything together!)















Here are step by step pictures of putting them together. First spread a couple of large spoon-fulls of sauce on the bottom of your greased pan. (Note about the pan: I used an 11x15 pan this time, but if you don't have one, use a 9x13 and also an 8x8 pan to fit all of the enchiladas, you may half this recipe!!)

First, put a spoon full of beans on the tortilla,















then, add some chicken,















and veggies














roll them up and put them in your pan.














Pour the rest of the can of sauce over your enchiladas, and then make sure that the edges of the tortillas are covered with sauce so that they don't turn out dry and crunchy after baking.















Cover pan with foil and bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Remove pan from the oven and sprinkle the top with cheese. Put the pan back into the oven for another 5-10 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Serve hot with sour cream.