Chicken Enchiladas with Salsa Verde

This is an old recipe of my own that I've tweaked and re-tweaked over the years.  I love it because it's flexible -- you can use chicken or ground turkey or pork or beef -- and you can "hide" healthy bits like chopped kale, spinach, or chard.  For the salsa verde, you can certainly use store-bought salsa instead.  I've done that in the past when I can't find good-looking tomatillos.  However, I really do love the taste of the homemade stuff, especially since I like to have control over the amount of garlic and heat that goes into the salsa.  

It's a great dish for company; I find that both adults and kiddos like it (especially when served with sour cream).  It's also a good dish for delivering to friends.  It just needs about 20-25 minutes in a 350 degree oven to warm it all up and melt the cheese.  

Salsa Verde
makes enough for 8 enchiladas


8 tomatillos, husked and cleaned

3 chopped scallions, whites only

1/4 cup of diced chiles or 2-3 fresh green chiles

1 clove garlic

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Juice of 1 lime

Salt

1. Quarter tomatillos and place in medium saucepan with scallions, chiles and garlic.  Let mixture boil, then simmer until tomatillos are soft, about 20 minutes.

2. Remove tomatillos from heat, put in blender or food processor with cilantro and lime.  Blend and add salt to taste.

3.  Adjust amounts of cilantro, lime, and chiles according to taste.  


Chicken Enchiladas
makes about 8 enchiladas

2-3 tablespoons canola oil

1 onion, chopped

2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced

2 cups of shredded Jack cheese

8 tortillas (I use flour, but you can use corn too) 
1/2 cup finely chopped greens like kale, spinach, chard (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350°

2. Heat 1 tbs of canola oil in saute pan over high heat.  Add onion when oil is almost smoking.  Cook onions until soft.  Add greens, if using.  Add chicken and cook until just past pink.

3. Heat 1 scant tablespoon of oil in a saute pan large enough to allow a tortilla to lay flat.  When oil is hot, add one tortilla to pan just long enough to soften (make sure to flip it to get both sides exposed to pan).  Remove tortilla, let drippings fall back into pan, set aside in plate, and continue with remaining tortillas.   You may need to add more oil.

4. Spread a thin layer of salsa verde over the bottom of a baking dish.

5. Ladle 1-2 tablespoons of chicken into tortilla (depending on the size of your tortilla), add cheese, and fold and roll into enchilada.   Place seam-side down in baking dish.  Continue with remaining tortillas until dish is filled with a single layer of enchiladas.

6.  Cover tops of enchiladas with salsa verde, sprinkle with remaining cheese (about 1 cup), and bake in oven for about 20 minutes or until cheese is just starting to brown.

7. Serve with leftover salsa verde, and sour cream.  

Chicken Breasts with Tomatoes, Kalamata, and Feta

Last night I tried a new recipe from Cook's Illustrated.  I was looking to add a new chicken breast recipe to my rotation, but wasn't interested in one that would take forever to prepare.  We all really liked it, and it was so easy to make.   The recipe follows below. 

I served it with couscous and buttered peas.  The nice and unexpected part of this particular meal, was that you could mix together the sauce from the chicken with the couscous and the peas, and the flavors together were even better.

Here's what I did with the couscous.  I like to use shallots with my couscous, but somehow I managed to be out of them.  So, I used scallions instead.  I often treat couscous like a kitchen sink -- I just toss in whatever I've got handy.

2tbs butter
2 cups couscous
2 cups chicken broth
2 tbs chopped scallions
zest plus juice of one lemon
2 tbs olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup pine nuts

Melted the butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat.  Once it stops bubbling, add couscous and toast until it just starts to brown (less than 5 minutes).  

Add broth to couscous, give it a good stir, cover, and remove from heat.  Let stand for about 5-7 minutes then fluff with fork. 

Add scallions, lemon zest and lemon juice.  Add enough olive oil and season to taste with salt and pepper.  Add pine nuts, toss, and serve.  It just occurred to me that I should have added some chopped parsely to finish the dish.  Definitely next time.  

Sauteed Chicken with Cherry Tomatoes, Olives, Feta, and Mint

from Cook's Illustrated

Serves 4

• 1/2cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 4boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 5 to 6 ounces each), tenderloins removed and breasts trimmed of any yellow or white fat
• Salt and ground black pepper
• 4tablespoons olive oil, plus 2 more teaspoons (if needed)
• 2medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through a garlic press (about 2 teaspoons)
• 1pint cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/2cup kalamata olives, pitted and halved (see illustration below)
• 1 - 2tablespoons water (if needed)
• 2ounces feta cheese, crumbled (about 1/2 cup)
• 1/4cup thinly sliced fresh mint leaves
• 
  

1. 1. Place the flour in a shallow dish. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Working with 1 chicken breast at a time, dredge in the flour, shaking off the excess.
2. 2. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add the chicken and cook until well browned on one side, 6 to 8 minutes.
3. 3. Flip the chicken over, reduce the heat to medium-low, and continue to cook until the thickest part of the breast registers 160 to 165 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, 6 to 8 minutes longer. Transfer the chicken to a serving platter, tent loosely with foil, and let rest while making the sauce.
4. 4. Add 2 more teaspoons of the oil (if needed) and the garlic to the skillet and cook over medium-high heat until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the tomatoes and olives, scraping up any browned bits. (If necessary, add enough of the water to help loosen the browned bits from the bottom of the pan.) Cook until the tomatoes are just softened, about 2 minutes. Stir in any accumulated chicken juices and season with salt and pepper to taste.
5. 5. Off the heat, stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil and pour the tomatoes over the chicken. Sprinkle with the feta and mint. Serve.