Fiesta Chicken Enchiladas

Andrew makes the most amazing beef enchiladas. He uses corn tortillas and a ton of cheese, and they are so, so good. He knew somebody whose sister had a friend who was from Mexico and she made "authentic food". She was kind enough to share a few of her recipes with him. Because of this, Andrew is the go-to guy around here whenever we want mexican food.

I make tacos. From a packet. That's about where my expertise ends. But I decided to give it a shot and see what I could come up with. Andrew looked at me kind of funny when I told him I was making enchiladas and no, it wasn't his recipe. It only got worse when I started talking about beans and rice and such. But when it was all over, he was hooked and we were fighting over the leftovers. K even cleaned his plate before I was half done, and that's saying something. Move over Andrew, Mama's going south of the border.

 
Fiesta Chicken Enchiladas
Makes 10 enchiladas (5 servings)

What I use:

• 2 10 oz. cans mild enchilada sauce
• 1 1/4 c. chicken broth
• 1 lb. chicken breast, cooked and shredded*
• 2 c. cooked rice
• 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained**
• 1 can corn, drained
• 1 c. salsa
• 1 c. water
• 1 packet taco seasoning
• 10 tortillas, soft taco size
• 2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
• Sour cream for serving

How I do it:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

1. In a small pot, warm the enchilada sauce and chicken broth together. Stir to combine.

2. In a large pot, place the chicken, rice, black beans, corn, and salsa.

3. In a measuring cup, whisk together the water and taco seasoning. Pour it over everything in the pot and turn the heat on to medium.

4. Using a wooden spoon, mix everything together and heat until warm, 5 to 10 minutes.

5. Pour just enough enchilada sauce into a 13 x 9 x 2 inch pan to cover the bottom.

6. Make the enchiladas. Lay out a tortilla, add about 2 Tbsp. cheese off to the side, spoon some filling on top of the cheese (1/2 cup-ish), then tightly roll it up.

7. Lay the enchiladas in the pan. They should fill the whole thing, and you may have to push them aside a little to fit the last one in.

8. Pour the rest of the enchilada sauce over everything. If you have any cheese leftover, sprinkle it on top. (I left the cheese off the few on the end because K and dairy are not friends right now.)

9. Bake the enchiladas for about 30 minutes, until the tortillas have soaked up some of the sauce and the cheese is melted.

10. Let the whole enchilada rest for 10 minutes before serving. (See what I did there? I crack myself up.)

* When I need shredded chicken, I poach it, then put it in a high sided bowl and use my hand mixer to shred it. It works perfectly. (You can see the final results in the picture in step 1.)

** The black beans will retain their texture even after the enchiladas are cooked. If you prefer a softer bean, you can cook them in their own juices for about 5 minutes in a small pot, then drain and rinse. Or skip them altogether and go with a bean that is softer right out of the can, like pinto, pink, or small white.

The family says:

• K liked it a lot. He doesn't usually love the canned enchilada sauce because it can be a tad spicy sometimes even though I always buy the mild kind, but I think the chicken broth I added to it made it perfect for him.
• Andrew won't admit it now, but I swear I heard him say something about it possibly being better than his, maybe. But every time he sees it on my blog, he asks when we're having it again.
• I thought this was perfect. The tortillas soaked up the sauce and the cheese melted into everything inside each little roll and the sour cream brought everything together. It was amazing. (My mouth is actually watering as I write this.)