Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas

I grew up on my tias' green chile chicken enchilada casserole, but I never bothered to ask how they made it; I mean, why learn how to cook it when they'll make it for you? Actually, that's not true. I think I did ask—several times—but their recipe included "some" of this, "a little" of that, followed by a dash, a pinch, and a sprinkling of "those." They all swore it was "really easy to make," which is why they didn't have an actual recipe.

I'm the type of person who needs clear-cut directions. Spell it out for me in detail so I can check, double check, and then have someone else make sure I got it all right, otherwise you'll end up with salt cookies instead of sugar cookies. So a few weeks before I moved from New Mexico to Georgia, my mom and I practiced making green chile chicken enchiladas. It turns out making the casserole really is pretty freaking easy.

I've been making this now for more than two years and I'm proud to say I don't use a recipe for it anymore, which is why it's probably taken me so long to share this with you. I have the basics down, but sometimes I'll throw in a little something extra (it's great with an additional 1 cup of sauteed mushrooms) or play around with ingredients (sometimes I use whatever cheese I have on hand, and I love using leftover Thanksgiving turkey in place of the chicken). The recipe also works great cut in half, which is something I like to do when it's just me at home.

Like most casseroles, this tastes better after it's been out of the oven for a few hours and even better the next day. All the flavors have time to sit, mingle, and get to know each other, resulting in a party in your mouth later. If you do make it ahead of time, just pop it back into the oven for a bit to warm it back up. Serve with Spanish rice, calabacitas (coming this week!), and homemade tortillas!

Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas

by The Tale of Two Kitchens

Ingredients:
1 pound chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
2 (10 oz) cans cream of mushroom soup
1 batch green chile sauce (or 1-2 cups green chile, pealed and chopped)
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp garlic
8 corn tortillas, quartered
1/4 cup your favorite salsa
12 oz shredded cheese (cheddar or Colby/Monterrey Jack blend)
1/2 onion, chopped (optional, but only if you absolutely, positively HATE onions)

Directions: 
Preheat oven to 350F (180c). Lightly spray a 9x13 casserole dish with non-stick spray.

In a medium-sized pot on medium-high heat, combine soup, chile, and (cooked) chicken. Add ground pepper, cumin and garlic; mix to combine. Once the mixture starts to boil thickly, take off heat, stir, and set aside.

Submerge quartered tortilla pieces in salsa one at a time and place along the bottom of the casserole dish so the whole thing is covered (it takes around three and a half whole tortillas per layer—it's okay if there are some spaces or if they lay on top of each other). Spread half of chicken mixture over tortillas. Sprinkle half the onions over chicken mixture, then add around a 1/4 of the cheese over the onions. Repeat layers with remaining ingredients ending with the cheese.

Bake, covered with foil, for 30 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking for an additional 15 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly. Let cool, slice, and serve! (It's often not very set when we eat it straight out of the oven, but it still tastes great and will firm up for leftovers!)

Taco Pie

When we make dinner around here it's almost always something simple, and without a doubt, tacos debut at the top of our menu each week. They're just too easy to make: brown and season meat, chop up fresh veg, make some quick Spanish rice and you're pretty much good to go. The problem with having Taco Tuesday (or Wednesday, Thursday or Friday) weekly is that it can start getting mundane. We switch it up every once in awhile by having nacho cups (recipe coming soon) or even burritos, but my tastebuds have been craving a little something more.

The second I saw this Taco Pie I knew I hit dinner jackpot. I mean, come on, it's taco in pie form—what's not to love? The fact that it's also ridiculously simple to assemble and is bursting with zesty southwestern flavors are just added bonuses. This kind of reminded me of a Mexican version of shepherds (or cottage) pie, or even a taco enchilada, but I'm happy to keep calling it Taco Pie, because seriously, pie rocks.

Taco Pie

adapted from Food Network Magazine

Ingredients:

• 6 or 7 taco shelves, halved (12-14 pieces total, or make your own)
• 1/2 tablespoon oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
• 1 15-ounce can crushed tomatoes (or one can diced tomatoes + 2 Tbs tomato paste)
• 1/4 cup salsa (optional depending on how much spice you like)
• 8 ounces chopped green chiles
• 1 can corn, drained
• 7 ounces of cheese, divided (sharp cheddar, mozzarella, Colby & Monterey Jack, etc.)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 Celsius). Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions to the skillet and cook, stirring until soft and translucent. Add minced garlic and cayenne; stir and mix for about 30 seconds. Add ground beef, salt, garlic powder and cumin; cook, breaking up the meat, until browned. Stir in tomatoes, salsa, chile and corn; mix well. Bring to a simmer and cook until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

Arrange half of the tortillas in the bottom of a 9-to-10-inch pie plate (overlapping is fine; about 5 halves). Top with half of the meat mixture, then half of the cheese. Repeat with the remaining tortillas, meat and cheese. Cover loosely with foil and bake until the cheese melts, about 10 minutes. Slice, serve, and enjoy! 

p.s. I could use some advice on how to take pictures of food when it's pitch black outside, your stomach is growling, and the last thing you want to do is let the food get cold to get a decent shot. 

Ginger Glazed Mahi Mahi

We had this for dinner tonight and it was so good and so easy to make that I had to share it with you ASAP.

This fish was sweet, spicy, and even a little tangy, and would be great served over rice and with grilled or roasted veggies. My husband licked his plate and said he wants it again soon. We baked it in the oven, but it would be just as delicious—if not better—grilled.

Ginger Glazed Mahi Mahi

adapted from Sunny Side Up in San Diego

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons honey or agave nectar
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons red or white wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon ginger
Pinch of red pepper flakes (kick it up a notch with 1/2 teaspoon!)
3 cloves garlic, crushed or to taste
1 teaspoons olive oil
4 mahi mahi fillets (tilapia would be great, too)
salt and pepper to taste
sliced scallions (optional for garnish)

Directions:
In a shallow glass dish, stir together first seven ingredients. (If the honey is too thick, heat mixture in microwave for about 20 seconds). Season fish fillets with salt and pepper, and place them into the dish. If the fillets have skin on them, place them skin side down. Cover, and refrigerate for 30 minutes to marinate. If fillets don't have skin, flip fillets and continue marinating after 15 minutes.

After marinating, pour the marinade into a small pot and bring to a boil on medium heat. (Keep an eye on it that it doesn't boil over quickly.) Turn down to a simmer and let it thicken while you grill/bake the fish.

Grill the Mahi Mahi for 4 minutes on each side or bake at 400 degrees for around 10 minutes are until flaky and done.

Serve by pouring the glaze over the fish and sprinkling with scallions. 

Green Chile Sauce

When I go out to eat in New Mexico I always get my food smothered in "Christmas," which is what we call the mixture of red chile and green chile. (Fun fact: New Mexico's official state question is "red or green?") Several weeks ago I realized that I've never made a green chile sauce before, which is strange since that's pretty much all I eat at restaurants back home.
 
We have a freezer full of green chile out here that we need to start using before we move, so I got out my trusty cookbook and found a recipe for green chile sauce. I use this with so many foods now (huevos rancheros, over chicken, mixed in beans, inside enchiladas, etc.) that I had to share it with you. It's usually gone within a day or two at our house, so I need to start doubling the recipe! I'll also post recipes to the foods above in the next few weeks.

 Green Chile Sauce

adapted from Simply Simpatico

Ingredients
1/2 cup onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon butter, margarine, or oil
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup water (or chicken or vegetable stock)
1 cup green chile* (roasted, peeled, diced)
salt to taste

Directions
Saute onions and garlic in butter (margarine or oil) over medium heat. When onions are translucent, mix in flour (it should look sort of like a paste). Add green chile and water (or stock); bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat and simmer for five minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Add salt to taste.

*I've only made this with fresh green chile, so if you're using green chile from a can, your results may differ.

Green Chile Apple (Hand-Held) Pies

The first time I tried a green chile apple pie was in Vermont, of all places. We were visiting a friend who insisted we bring him some Hatch green chile from New Mexico so he could make a pie. I was intrigued at what it would taste like and fell completely in love after one bite. Unfortunately, the rest of my family didn't really care for it and I'm sorry to say that I never had it again...until now.

I always thought about green chile apple pie and wanted to make it several times, but every time I mentioned it people, (my husband) looked at me like I was crazy. A few months ago I came across a recipe for these hand-held pies (turnovers, really), and I decided to finally make them. I think you either like green chile apple pie or you don't. Personally, I love the sweet heat combo and could eat them all day long...which is exactly what I did.

If you make these, and I really hope you do, play around with the amount of chile you use. Chile from a can tends to be on the mild side, so you can probably get away with using a full cup. If you're using fresh chile, taste it first and judge the heat. We used one cup of VERY hot chile and I was afraid of the outcome, but I think cooking it and combining it with the sweet apples actually helped simmer the spiciness. If you're timid about chile, add it to a few pies and see how they taste—the outcome may surprise you!

Green Chile Apple (Hand-Held) Pies

adapted from Bless Her Heart

Ingredients:
4 sheets of puff pastry, thawed according to manufacturers instructions
3 cups apples, peeled and diced into bite-sized pieces
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 cup green chiles, roasted, peeled and diced.
1/2 cup of sugar
1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
2 tablespoons cinnamon sugar (1Tbs sugar; 1Tbs cinnamon)
flour for dusting the workspace
egg for egg wash

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix lemon juice with the apples to keep them from browning. Stir in green chile. In a small bowl, mix sugar, cinnamon, cornstarch and salt. Thoroughly mix dry ingredients into the apple mixture. Set aside; mix occasionally. In a small bowl beat egg for eggwash.

Lightly flour a work surface for cutting out puff pastry circles. Using a bowl as your cutter, you should be able to get 2-3 circles from each sheet of puff pastry sheet. The circles should be around 5-6" in diameter (we used the lid from our flour container—get creative with your cutter!).

Fill in half of the circle with apple filling, around 2-3 full tablespoons of filling depending on the size of circles. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top of filling. Brush along half of the edge of the circle with egg wash. Fold in half, tucking the filling inside as you go along and pinch closed, or seal with the tines of a fork. Cut a 1" slit in the top for a vent. Brush the top with the egg wash; sprinkle with more cinnamon sugar. Place on parchment paper on a baking sheet. Repeat with remaining hand pies. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Spanish Rice

My mom has been making this rice for years and I love it so much that I've been known to eat it as a meal in and of itself. Actually, I eat most of it straight from the pot when I think nobody is looking. I'm sneaky like that.

Making this is simple, and I'd be willing to bet that you have everything on hand to make it at the drop of a hat. My mom and I love the onions, but if you're not a fan, leave them out. Same goes for the heat—we clearly like things spicy in our house, so we add a lot more salsa than the average person. If you want things a bit more mild, start with less and add more later.

This is definitely more of a tomatoey rice, but it's what we like and what I grew up eating. The flavors from the salsa really enhance the entire dish, so pick out a good salsa. Serve this with as a side dish to tacos, tostadas, or enchiladas, or incorporate it into a meal of its own by combining some ground beef and stuffing it into a bell pepper!

Spanish Rice

by The Tale of Two Kitchens

Ingredients:
splash of oil
1/2 small onion, diced
1 8oz tomato sauce
8 oz instant brown or white rice (use the tomato sauce can to measure)
1/2 cup salsa
salt, pepper, garlic powder, and red pepper flakes to taste

Directions:
Heat oil in a small pot. Once hot, saute onions until soft and fragrant. Set onions aside in serving bowl.

Add tomato sauce to pot and rinse can out with about half a can's worth of water; add water to pot. Boil sauce; keep an eye on it, because it won't boil like water.

Once sauce boils, add one can of rice, onions, and salsa (you can add more salsa later if you're afraid of adding too much). Cover and simmer for five minutes.

After five minutes, turn off heat, stir, and recover for an additional five minutes. Recheck rice and add additional seasonings (if needed) and continue to leave covered until rice is fully cooked, at a consistency you like, or ready to serve.

(Optional: sprinkle in some shredded cheese after cooking.)

Come join the fun at the My Baking Addiction and GoodLife Eats Holiday Recipe Swap sponsored by Le Creuset.

Buffalo Chicken Salad

Last week we put our house up on the market, which means that we're trying to keep it as clean as possible. If you've ever been in our shoes, then you know how frazzled I feel about keeping our kitchen clean. I love cooking, but I'm not always the cleanest cook. Actually, I'm a really messy cook, which now presents a problem.

One night, when I didn't know what to make for dinner because I wanted to keep things mess free, my husband reminded me about a meal we love that is ridiculously easy to make. This salad is filling, spicy, tangy, and is a meal even guys will sink their teeth into.

I love it, because it's a healthy alternative to devouring hot wings submerged in ranch dressing. My husband likes to skimp on the ingredients (just chicken, lettuce, cheese, and dressing for him), but I like including whatever veggies we have on hand. Consider the following more of a "how-to" instead of an actual recipe. In other words: tweak as you see fit!

Buffalo Chicken Salad

by The Tale of Two Kitchens

Ingredients:
Breaded chicken breast tenderloins
Buffalo wing sauce (Frank's RedHot Buffalo tastes great, but we actually use the store brand)
Lettuce
Blue cheese crumbles (reduced fat tastes just as good!)
Ranch or blue cheese dressing
tomatoes (optional)
green onions (optional)
celery (optional)
avocado (optional)

Directions:
Cook chicken in oven according to directions, flipping once to get both sides crisp. While chicken is cooking, prep salad bowls with lettuce and other ingredients. When chicken is finished cooking, set aside to cool. In a medium sized bowl, pour about 1/4–1/2 cup (to taste) hot wing sauce (you can always add more!). Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces and place in bowl with hot sauce. Toss to coat; place buffalo chicken on top of lettuce. Add desired amount of salad dressing; enjoy.

Chips and Salsa

Growing up in New Mexico means learning to love spicy food, and what better way to train your palate than with tasty salsa? You know how Italian restaurants usually start out with olive oil and bread on the table? Well, New Mexican restaurants are notorious for providing little bowls of chips and salsa for customers to enjoy before their meal. Salsa is, by far, my favorite condement. There's nothing like walking into any New Mexican grocery store and seeing an entire aisle filled—from top to bottom—with jars of salsa.

My Tia Anna makes the most unbelievable homemade salsa. It's so good that I used to show up at our family functions early just to pour some of her salsa in my own to-go container (okay, it was usually a plastic cup) so I could be sure to have some when I went home. She quickly caught on to my scheme and started bringing me my very own container of salsa.

But that wasn't enough. One day I finally asked her how she made it so I could make it at home. Then she said the one phrase every person who fears the kitchen is afraid of hearing: "Oh, I don't measure anything; I just put a little of this and a little of that in there." Drats. Luckily, she wrote everything down the next time she made it.

This is my version of her salsa, and it's so simple to make. I should note that everything here can be modified. My husband doesn't like cilantro, so I usually put in a little less. And if you don't have green chile, just use jalapenos. The same goes for the texture: if you like chunky salsa, don't puree it as much. Do you have fresh tomatoes on hand? Go for it! A couple other things to keep in mind: taste as you go, but keep in mind that the flavors will mingle together more in the fridge; and try not to oversalt, because most ot the time you'll be scooping this salsa up with a salty chip (recipe below)!

Salsa

from The Tale of Two Kitchens

Ingredients:
2 (14.5 oz) cans of diced tomatoes (drained)
1/2 medium white or yellow onion, diced
3 tablespoons green chile (or jalapenos, to taste)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 cup cilantro, chopped

Stir all ingredients together. Mix to preferred texture in a food processor, blender, or with an immersion blender. Refrigerate and enjoy!

Tortilla Chips

from The Tale of Two Kitchens

Ingredients:
6-inch corn or flour tortillas, cut into triangles
olive oil
salt

Preheat oven to 400° F. Line baking sheets with foil. Spray or brush both sides of tortilla triangles with oil. Place triangles on baking sheet not touching. Sprinkle with salt. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden.

Sweet Chili Tilapia

In our household, we enjoy eating fish at least twice a week for dinner. The problem with having it that often is that white fish can sometimes taste boring if it's not seasoned well. And we all know that boring food leads to dinner ruts, which leads to scrapping the fish idea and just eating out instead. So we have to get creative with what we put on our fish.

Enter Sweet Chile Sauce (found near the soy sauce in most supermarkets). We LOVE this stuff and put it on everything from fish and poultry, to rice and pasta, so expect to see more of it in the future. It has the perfect amount of zestiness to sweetness and enhances food so well. For this particular recipe, I use a 1-1-1/2 ratio. For every tablespoon of sweet chili sauce, add the same amount of soy sauce, and half the amount of Worcestershire.

Sweet Chili Tilapia

serves 4

Ingredients:
4 tilapia fillets, thawed (can use any white fish)
4 tablespoons sweet chili sauce
4 tablespoons soy sauce (low sodium, if possible)
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
garlic powder (to taste)

Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Mix wet ingredients together in a small bowl. In a shallow baking dish, lay fish out evenly, without touching. Sprinkle desired amount of garlic poweder over fish. Pour chili mixture over fish; marinate for about 10 minutes. Flip and marinate other side for another 10 minutes. Bake for 10-15 minutes until fish is white and flaky. Serve and pour excess sauce over fish. Enjoy!

Spicy Pesto

We love pasta in our household and are always looking for new twists to keep things tasty and interesting. So the second we saw this recipe featured on Food Network we knew we had to try it. This particular pesto is packed with bold and unique flavors that creates an unbelievable blend of deliciousness. Seriously, I started nibbling on it by the spoonful while I waited for the pasta to cook!

It's made with spinach, arugula, walnuts, garlic, cheese, oil, and is kicked up a notch with a jalapeno. The rich arugula flavor comes through nicely without being bitter, and the spiciness was perfect. If you're worried about the heat being too powerful, omit the seeds from the pepper. And if you're serving this with pasta, pick a noodle that has ridges or curves (fusilli, penne, rigatoni, rotini, etc.) so the sauce can stick and cling to the pasta.

The recipe below makes plenty of pesto, so freeze leftovers in an ice cube tray with olive oil drizzled over it. Once frozen, pop them out and continue freezing the cubes in a Ziploc bag—they'll be perfect for nights when you need a quick and easy meal!

Spicy Pesto

adapted from Giada De Laurentiis of the Food Network

Ingredients

• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
• 1 (2-inch) green jalapeno pepper, stemmed and coarsely chopped (omit seeds for milder flavor)
• 2 cups grated Parmesan/Reggiano cheese (Asiago or regular Parmesan works great, too)
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3 ounces baby spinach
• 3 ounces arugula
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Directions

In a food processor*, combine walnuts, garlic, jalapeno, cheese, salt and pepper. Process until the mixture is smooth. Add spinach and arugula and process until blended. With machine running, gradually the olive oil.  

*We used a 14-cup processor and had to smash the spinach and arugula in there, so if you have a smaller food processor you may need to make it in a couple batches.

Mango Avocado Salsa

I made this recipe for the first time two weeks after I got married. I wanted tilapia for dinner (it's healthy) and my husband wanted something that didn't taste like tilapia, so he found this recipe and asked if I'd make it. Up until that point I had never tasted a "salsa" that included fruit as its main ingredient. Tomatoes, yes; mangos and avocados, heck no.

But let me tell you, it was love at first bite and we've made this countless times since. This salsa is creamy, crunch, spicy, sweet, and just a tad bit addicting—fair warning. Cook your tilpia with just a touch of seasoning (we like a dusting of lemon/garlic seasoning) and then pile the salsa on top. And if you have any salsa left over, just go ahead and eat it with a spoon! 

 Mango Avocado Salsa

Ingredients: 
1 cup avocado, cut in small chunks 
1 cup mango, cut in small chunks 
4 tablespoons chopped green onion
1 roma tomato
5 "deli" jalapenos diced (omit/tweak to taste)
2 tablespoon lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Pinch of Paprika
Pinch of salt and pepper

Directions:
In a small bowl, mix together all ingredients. Cover and leave in fridge for at least 30 minutes, so the flavors can all mingle together.

Sweet, Spicy, and Citrus Tilapia

I love tilipia. It's low in calories and fat and high in all of those good omega 3 fatty acids. But here's the thing with tilapia: it's boring if not properly seasoned. We're all for healthy eating over here, but it has to be flavorful. So when I saw this recipe in the August issue of Cooking Light I knew we had to try it. Well low and behold, it's now one of our favorite meals!

This is perfect for one of those nights when you really don't know what you want to have for dinner. As long as you have orange juice on hand you can whip this up in no time. Not a fan of spice? Cut back on the red pepper flakes just a bit. It's really the perfect combination of flavors. 

Sweet, Spicy, and Citrus Tilapia 

adapted from Cooking Light magazine

Ingredients

4  (6-ounce) tilapia fillets
Cooking spray
1/2  cup  fresh orange juice (about 1 orange)
3  tablespoons  fresh lime or lemon juice (I've used bottled juice before, too)
1  tablespoon  brown sugar
1/2  tablespoon  extra-virgin olive oil
2  teaspoons  lower-sodium soy sauce
1/2  teaspoon  salt
1/2  teaspoon  ground cumin
1/4  teaspoon  black pepper
1/4  teaspoon  ground red pepper
2  garlic cloves, crushed
1/2  teaspoon  paprika

Preparation

1. Arrange fish in a single layer in a shallow roasting pan coated with cooking spray. Combine orange juice and the next 9 ingredients (through garlic); pour over fish. Let stand 15 minutes.
2. Preheat broiler.
3. Sprinkle fish with paprika; broil 10-15 minutes or until desired degree of doneness. Drizzle sauce over fish.
Serve with rice or potatoes and a veggie! Enjoy.