Enchiladas

Sigh...I realize that if you were to click the link for Mexican food on this blog, it would literally be the same as clicking on the link to my posts. I promise we don't eat Mexican food every night....but it's pretty close.

This is a recipe I got from my new guilty-pleasure show, "The Food Nanny". While I will NEVER admit to watching ANYTHING on BYU's channel, I may or may not tune into this show ahem*religiously*ahem. You can go to the show's website and have a look around at the free menu planning and recipe software they have on there. It's actually pretty helpful. These are the tastiest enchiladas I have ever made at home. I don't usually like canned enchilada sauce - it always ends up tasting bitter to me. This recipe simply builds on top of a canned enchilada sauce and boy is it yummy! I didn't follow the recipe exactly and made a few helpful adjustments which I will be sure to note.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp. butter

1/3 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped green pepper

2 cups tomato juice, divided (I used 1 cup tomato SAUCE and one cup water)

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

2 tsp. cider vinegar

1 10 oz. can enchilada sauce (I but the 28 oz. can and ended up needing all of it, because i make the enchiladas a bit differently than the recipes says to...read on)

3 cups cheddar cheese (we use Mexican blend)

corn or flour tortillas

3 cups diced or shredded chicken (optional, these can just be cheese enchiladas)

2.25 oz can of sliced olives

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a medium sauce pan, melt the butter and saute over medium high heat the onion and pepper about 5 minutes, or until the onions begin to become transluscent. Pour this mixture into a blender and add 1 cup of tomato juice (or tomato sauce) and blend until smooth. Return to sauce pan and bring to a low bowl. Add the enchilada sauce (10 oz. can if you are sticking the recipe, the whole 28 oz can if you do it my way), salt, cinnamon, other cup of tomato of juice or if you used the tomato sauce, add a cup of water instead. Reduce to a simmer and let simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Now, here is where I differ from the recipe, the recipe says to dip the tortillas in the sauce, lay on a cookie sheet, fill with cheese (and chicken), roll up, put in a 9x13 casserole dish, cover with the sauce. That just seems like a giant mess to me. A Mexican friend of mine once told me that she skips the rolling up process entirely when making enchiladas and just makes them casserole style. So much easier. So this is what I do: (if you do it my way, you will need the whole 28 oz. can, if you do it the above way, you only need a 10 oz can)

In a 9x13 casserole dish, spread a bit of the sauce on the bottom. Rip up tortillas and lay them in the pan so they cover it. Pour a layer of enchilada sauce, sprinkle a layer of cheese, add some chicken and repeat this process (like lasagna) until the dish is full. Top with cheese and olives and bake at 350 for 15 minutes.