Ok- I am not one to toot my own horn very much, but I will say that the enchiladas I made last night were AMAZING. Awesome in fact. I used the filling I had made the previous night and they didn't even take too long to put together. I placed tortillas in the oven while it was preheating to warm them up. I then soaked each one in Enchilada sauce (I bought the sauce but I am going to make my own next time) and slathered some refried beans (low-fat and vegetarian) on each and then loaded in the filling. The filling was the roasted chicken, shredded, a mix of cheddar and jack cheese, green chili peppers (2 little cans, yes I can make these but they are so easy from the can), sauteed onions and zucchini (in sticks), sour cream (I used about 1/2 a 9 oz. container), garlic powder, cayenne pepper, chili powder, a pour of the enchilada sauce, and an unauthentic dash of Crystal super hot sauce. I rolled up all the tortillas in a baking dish, covered it with jack and cheddar and a can of the enchilada sauce. I baked these covered for about 20 minutes at 375F and then uncovered for another 5 minutes. They came out looking not the most beautiful, but still good.
For the plating I shredded about 1/2 a cabbage and placed it on each of the three plates. I added a beautiful orange tomato to this and made a quick vinaigrette to go over the "salad." I had bought both fire roasted tomato salsa and a green salsa, so I added about 2 tbsp of the green salsa to a bowl, mixed it with some red wine vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper and mixed it all up. I poured this over the cabbage and tomatoes and then added a enchilada on top.
To dress the enchiladas I drizzled each kind of salsa on it, cubed red tomatoes and avocado dressed with lime juice and salt, and some cilantro. The whole thing was really incredible. It was spicy but not too spicy. we had a ton of veggies with the salsas, tomatoes, avocado, cabbage, zucchini, onions, and peppers. Protein came from the chicken and beans. And besides using some sour cream (4 oz for two HUGE casserole dishes) and two blocks of cheese, these weren't bad for you.
I saved calories by not frying the tortillas before rolling them up as well. I can see that this could make them a bit crisper, because I will admit that I think it would be a waste of calories and time. i might also use less sour cream next time and drain the green peppers more effectively, as well as use black beans instead of refried. The refried beans got lost in the texture, so I think that black beans would be able to stand out more.
One thing that REALLY stood out was the addition of cabbage. I thought about this because a) I had it on hand, b) I wanted a green that could stand up to the heat of the enchiladas and add a crunch, and c) in traditional Baja style fish tacos they add cabbage, so I figured that this would not be an unauthentic choice. The mild tang of the vinegar was also lovely, as well as the lime that covered the veggies. I think that these would NOT have been as good if they weren't over the cabbage, this will definitely be a new stand by for me.
These didn't come from a recipe either. I read probably 40 enchilada recipes in the last few days and simply took elements that seemed good from each one. This is the way I cook and why I don't enjoy baking as much. I like guessing and doing what seems right at the time. Anyway, I might have to do this again and actually write down what I am doing so I can share with others one day. Also need to figure out how to freeze these. Do you freeze it before baking or after?
The funniest part is that I roasted corn to go along with this meal, but by the time we finished our enchiladas, we were all too stuffed to eat it. Oh well, I can have it for lunch tomorrow. And dinner tonight. And dinner tomorrow...
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