Chicken and White Bean Enchiladas with Creamy Salsa Verde

Original Recipe HERE

I love enchiladas because they're hard to screw up, can be frozen, make good leftovers, and can be adjusted to suit the tastes of those you're feeding.  They can also be healthy or a heart-attack-in-a-pan.  I tried to make these relatively healthy by using low fat chicken broth, light sour cream, low fat cheese, and whole wheat tortillas (because if you look at how bad just one regular tortilla is, it's astounding).  These were a little more labor-intensive than I'd expected, but they made enough for dinner for two, lunch for two, and lunch for one.  So I guess they actually saved me time in the long run.

Ingredients for Chicken and White Bean Filling

1 tsp olive oil

1/4 cup minced white onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 can (4.5 oz) chopped green chiles

1 can (15.5 oz) Navy beans (or Cannellini beans)

2 chicken breasts, cooked & shredded [canned chicken can be substituted]

1/2 cup chicken broth

1 tsp cumin

Ingredients for Green Chile Enchilada Sauce

1 tsp butter

1/2 cup chopped white onion

2 tbsp flour

1 cup chicken broth

2 cans (4.5 oz each) chopped green chiles

1 to 2 jalapeños, seeded & finely chopped

salt

1/2 cup sour cream

3/4 cup shredded Mexican cheese

8 to 10 10" tortillas

chopped fresh cilantro and/or scallions [optional]

Directions

1) Preheat oven to 375.

* For the Filling

2) In a medium pan, heat olive oil on low. Add onions, garlic and saute until soft, about 2-3 minutes.

3) Add green chiles, beans, water, bullion, and cumin. Mix well and cover. Simmer on low 15 minutes.

4) Remove cover, add chicken and cook an additional 5 minutes, or until it thickens and liquid boils down. Remove from heat.

* For the Green Chile Enchilada Sauce:

5) In a large nonstick pan, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until it softens and starts to turn translucent, about 3-4 minutes.

6) Add flour and stir well. Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.

30 Slowly whisk in chicken broth until sauce becomes smooth. Cook over medium heat until the sauce boils and thickens, about 4-5 minutes.

7) Add green chiles, jalepeños, and salt to taste. Cook 1 minute and remove from the heat. Stir in the sour cream.

* To Assemble

8) Spread 1/4 cup of the enchilada sauce on the bottom of a 9x13" baking dish.

9) Fill each tortilla with about 1/2 cup of the filling. Roll tortillas and place seam side down in the prepared baking dish. Continue filling remainder of tortillas.

10) Pour enchilada sauce over the top of the enchiladas. Top with cheese.

11) Cover with aluminum and bake 20-30 minutes until enchiladas are hot and cheese is melted. Remove from oven and top with fresh cilantro or scallions.

Notes: Next time I'll try to make the filling and sauce ahead of time and refrigerate them so that I can just throw the enchiladas together and put them in the oven.  I'll also throw in some brown rice or quinoa (or a can of black beans) to make even more so I can try freezing a few.  And I'll also mix some salsa into either the filling or sauce just to see how it adjusts the taste.

Kid Participation:

* Pour beans and chiles into bowl

* Stir filling

* Spread sauce on bottom of pan

* Pour sauce over enchiladas

* Sprinkle cheese over enchiladas