Back to Food..

Rach-

Sorry about the long absence. As you know, December, typically a favourite month of mine, was a rough time. Food lost its appeal. Smells hit me with a staggeringly nauseating force. Chocolates and treats remained untouched- an entire box of Purdys is languishing in our pantry. As you know, I'm pregnant again. Fortunately, food and I are reconnecting. We're both playing coy - I'm being a bit fussy, and my pantry is still sending out some pouty neglect vibes - but no one said that the road to reconciliation was easy.

With the worst behind me, and finally after an ultrasound yesterday, a due date confirmed (August 1), I'm ready to get back to some normalcy. I'm back in the kitchen. This week was the week of the chicken enchilada. I made a giant batch on a Tuesday, and Finn munched through that Pyrex dish for multiple meals afterward. Chicken Enchiladas are another recipe that I can't actually provide you with a recipe for. No, this is another 'method' meal. My filling is never the same, and my sauce is rarely either, but they never fail to taste fabulous. The photo doesn't convey the true glory of this meal. I've made a few blog-worthy dishes in the past few weeks but somehow managing to get a photo is another story. This shot was captured mid-devour.

1 - You need chicken. For a 9 by 13 casserole dish, which I can squeeze about 8 good sized enchiladas into, you need to have about two to three cups of shredded or finely chopped chicken. You can use leftover roast chicken or just cook up a few chicken breasts. I like save time and make this dinner with leftover chicken, so I usually just plan a chicken meal and cook extras earlier in the week. You can use a bit more chicken if you want just chicken in your filling, or less if you like to add lots of extras.

2 - Filling time. Next, you need to look through your fridge and see what veggies you have on hand. On this occasion I finely chopped: one good sized onion, one red pepper, and a few cloves of garlic. I sauteed these over medium heat in a tsp of canola oil and then when they were cooked I added a cup of leftover rice, the shredded chicken and a cup of salsa. I added salt and pepper, a dash of cumin and a dash of chipolte powder (chili powder would work too). I also added about 3 ounces of cream cheese (optional) and stirred this over the medium heat until the cream cheese was melted. I then added aprox 1/3 cup of water to keep the mixture moist. Black beans, corn, and olives would be other filling ideas.

3-Prepare the enchilada sauce. I combined one cup of salsa, one cup of tomato sauce, one cup of chicken stock (water would substitute) and one cup of sour cream. I seasoned with another dash of cumin, and chipotle. The sour cream is optional. Basically you want a tomato sauce with a runny consistency. This is going to soften up your tortillas and make them melt in your mouth. Pour enough sauce into a large baking casserole to cover the bottom.

4- Assembly time - Put about half a cup of filling onto one tortilla with a sprinkle of shredded cheese. Roll each tortilla and place seam-side down in the sauce. When all your tortilla rolls are nice and snug in your dish then pour over your remaining sauce. Cover the pan and then bake these for 45 min at 300 degrees. Take the cover off for the last 10 minutes and then sprinkle them with shredded cheese.

5 - Enjoy! Serve with sour cream, salsa, and or guacamole.

Sorry to those friends who I should have informed personally about our latest addition - Third child neglect is already becoming a reality..