Favorite Ingredient Friday - Mexican Dishes Edition

We love Mexican food! Although I would rather go out and eat it, than make it at home, I do have a few easy recipes to enjoy some in the comfort of your own home. I have given this Chicken Enchilada recipe to just about everyone I know for two reasons - 1) it's easy and 2) its delicious. Now, I admit - it's not "authentic" mexican food. More like a gringo's take on enchiladas but its good, its cheap and its filling and afterall - is that not the general summary of Mexican cuisine?

Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients:

• 1 T. butter
• ½ cup chopped green onions
• ½ t garlic powder
• 1 can diced green chilies
• 1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
• ½ cup sour cream
• 1 ½ cups cooked chicken breast, shredded
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese, divided
• 6 (12 inch) flour tortillas
• ½ cup milk

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Lightly grease a 13 x 9 baking dish.
3. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and sauté the green onion until tender.
4. Add the garlic powder, and then stir in the green chilies, cream of mushroom soup, cream of chicken soup and sour cream. Mix well.
5. Reserve ¾ of this sauce and set aside.
6. To the remaining ¼ of the sauce in the saucepan, add the chicken and ½ cup of shredded Cheddar cheese. Stir together.
7. Fill each flour tortilla with the chicken mixture and roll up.
8. Place seam side down in the prepared baking dish.
9. In a small bowl combine the reserved ¾ of the sauce with the milk.
10. Spoon this mixture over the rolled tortillas and top with the remaining ½ cup of shredded Cheddar cheese.
11. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly.

This recipe is also really great in the fact that you can play around with it - and you're not going to mess it up! Darren doesn't like flour tortillas too much, so half the pan I make with corn tortillas. Want to add more chilies - go ahead! Add jalapenos, cilantro, or anything else you like - it still turns out perfectly! You can go and get a roasted chicken at the grocery store and shred it, instead of cooking the chicken yourself. Although - I must admit, I always cook mine and I think its the cheapest way to go! Buy a whole fryer at the grocery store (you can always find these on sale). They are usually around $3-$4. I put it in a pot of a little salted water and boil it. Then take it out, let it cool and shred the chicken. I put the water in a tupperware and stick it in the fridge, and then I can get enough meat off of that chicken to make 2 seperate meals. Just wrap the other meat up and stick it in the freezer for later!

I take all of the tortillas that I don't use and cut them into 8 pieces (so they are little skinny triangles), and throw them into some hot oil for a few minutes and wah-lah, you have some homemade chips. I lightly salt them, or add some beer salt (you know the lime flavored salt) and they are delicious. Sometimes, I get the cinnamon tortillas at the grocery store and fry those up and sprinkle them with cinnamon and sugar and they are a great dessert with a little honey or whip cream.

When I'm really in the mood to put some effort into this meal - I will whip up some homemade Guacamole to serve with those homemade chips. It's a really easy recipe:

Guacamole

Ingredients:

• 3 avocados - peeled, pitted, and mashed
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 roma tomatoes, diced
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 pinch ground cayenne pepper

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, mash together the avocados, lime juice, and salt.
2. Mix in onion, cilantro, tomatoes, and garlic.
3. Stir in cayenne pepper.
4. Refrigerate 1 hour for before serving.

Enjoy!

So, you have a really great, easy meal with very little cost, that is sure to please your family or your guests!