If you’re looking for a way to use up leftover chicken or need a dish to feed a crowd, consider enchiladas.
Basically, you start with a tortilla that has been softened with homemade warm chile sauce to make it pliable. Then you fill it and bake it.
When making enchiladas, what’s important is softening the corn tortillas. Do this by placing several on a plate. Cover them with a paper towel and plastic wrap, and microwave them for 45 to 60 seconds. Once warmed, brush them with some of the heated sauce, top with the filling and then roll them up for baking.
Pico de gallo pairs nicely with the enchiladas, but you could also serve them with salsa.
CREAMY CHICKEN ENCHILADAS
2 cans (10 oz. each) enchilada sauce
1 tbsp. canola oil
½ cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped red or green bell pepper (or mix of both)
3 cups shredded or chopped cooked chicken
1 tbsp. favorite chili powder, or to taste
1 can (10¾ oz.) reduced-fat cream of chicken soup
½ cup reduced-fat sour cream, plus more for serving
2 cups shredded Mexican-style cheese, divided
½ cup chopped cilantro, divided
18 (6-inch) corn tortillas
Pico de gallo, optional (see note)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 13-by-9-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. In a saucepan, heat the enchilada sauce over medium-low heat. Spread about one-half cup of the sauce on the bottom of the baking dish. Keep the remaining sauce warm.
In a large nonstick skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and peppers and saute until softened. Remove from the heat and stir in the cooked chicken and chili powder.
Stir in the soup, ½ cup sour cream, 1¼ cups cheese and one-fourth cup cilantro.
Working in batches, place several corn tortillas on a plate and warm for 45 seconds in the microwave.
Place one tortilla in the bottom of the baking dish and brush both sides with some of the warm sauce. Spoon about one-fourth cup of the chicken mixture down the center of the tortilla and roll up. Position it seam-side down in the dish. Repeat with remaining tortillas, nestling them together.
Pour remaining sauce over the enchiladas and sprinkle with remaining three-fourths cup of cheese. Top with remaining one-fourth cup cilantro. Bake 40 minutes. Serve with pico de gallo and sour cream, if desired.
Makes 18 enchiladas.
Note: To make pico de gallo, mix together 2 diced roma tomatoes, 1 diced avocado, one-half cup chopped white onion, one-fourth cup chopped cilantro, 1 tbsp. vinegar, 2 tbsp. canola oil, 1 tsp. sugar and salt and pepper to taste.