Spicy Chicken Enchiladas

Before now, enchiladas have intimidated me, but after preparing them using a recipe a couple of times I lost the fear and decided to experiment. I created this recipe using flavors we like, so feel free to substitute. Brent likes his Mexican food spicy and this recipe definitely fit the bill. The addition of the chipotle peppers in adobo sauce gave them a spicy/smoky flavor. The filing came out so colorful, I wish I had a picture of it before I rolled it into the tortillas.

I poached the chicken breasts a few days before I prepared this meal. In the past, I've severally overcooked chicken when poaching. This time I kept a closer eye on it because dry chicken sucks. In a large pot, three large chicken breasts (one pound) took about 22 minutes to cook through. I also added a tablespoon of chicken bouillon to the water which really amped the chicken flavor.

Ingredients:

1 red onion, diced

1 poblano pepper, diced

2 cloves garlic, diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, drained and chopped (reserve the liquid)

2 cans cream of chicken soup

1 box cream cheese, softened

1 pound chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

cilantro (optional)

3 cans red enchilada sauce

3-4 cups cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350°

In a skillet, saute the onion, poblano, garlic and bell pepper until soft but still colorful, season with salt and pepper.

In a large bowl, combine the sauted veggies with the chipotle peppers, chicken, cream of chicken soup, cream cheese and cilantro (optional). Mix until combined. Separately, combine the three cans of enchilada sauce with the reserved adobo sauce (use discretion, that stuff is spicy!).

Lightly grease a large roasting pan, or two 9x13 pans. Pour a little of the red sauce into the bottom of the pan and tilt to coat. Using a portion scoop (or your fingers!) roll up a portion of the mixture into each tortilla and line the enchiladas up in the pan. Top with the red sauce and the cheese.

Bake until heated through and cheese is melty and yummy, at least half an hour. You might have to cover the pan with tin foil to allow the interior to heat up without overcooking the cheese.

Here's a sexy nighttime picture of the enchiladas:

Evidently Sadi had a really good time helping me cook, check out this grin: