¡Olé!

One of the things I miss the most about living in Colorado is the Mexican food.  I love Mexican food...and it's not just because I'm a Spanish teacher!  Sadly, most Mexican restaurants in Minnesota do not hold a candle to the ones I frequented in Colorado.  I've had to resort to cooking Mexican food myself...oh, bummer.

This is by no means a difficult recipe, but I've managed to have something go wrong almost every time I've made it.  There was the one time I wasn't paying attention and added too much chili powder (sorry Lauren and family!).  Then there was the time I let my father go grocery shopping without me and he bought the wrong kind of enchilada sauce; hence, the picture below shows red sauce when the recipe clearly calls for green enchilada sauce.

Here are a couple of hints based on my attempts with this recipe:

1.  If you're a native Minnesotan and can't handle the heat (shout out to Mom and Dad!), cut the chili powder and black pepper by half.  Trust me, there will still be plenty of spice.

2.  It doesn't really matter if you buy the wrong enchilada sauce!  It tastes really good with both red and green.

  

Cortez Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients:

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper

1 can (4 ounces) chopped green chiles

1/2 cup chicken broth

2 cups canned green chili enchilada sauce, divided

1/2 tablespoon chili powder

1 teaspoon black pepper

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 pound cooked chicken breast, shredded, or 15 ounces canned chunk chicken in water, drained

12 corn tortillas

Cooking spray

1 cup shredded, part-skim mozzarella cheese  

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Combine onion, green pepper, green chiles, chicken broth, and 1/3 cup of enchilada sauce in a large non-stick skillet; cook for 5 minutes.

2.  Add chili powder, pepper, garlic, and chicken.  Mix well; cover and simmer for 5 minutes or until heated through.

3.  Heat corn tortillas by wrapping them in paper towels and microwaving on high for 1-1/2 to 2 minutes.  Spread 1/3 cup of chicken mixture lengthwise on each tortilla.  Roll tortilla and place, seam side down, in a shallow baking dish coated with cooking spray; pour remaining enchilada sauce over and sprinkle with cheese.  

4.  Bake for 20 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

Source:  The Best of Simply Colorado Cookbook, Colorado Dietetic Association