Friday, July 22, 2011

Green Chile Chicken Enchilada Casserole

I've been having a green chile craving lately, so I was trying to think of a good way to satisfy it.  I've never made a green chile chicken casserole before, mainly because Brian usually won't eat green chile.  But I thought I'd try making one and just trick him into trying it.  When the sauce is all mixed together, you can't really see the green chile, unless you're trying to figure out what's in it.  I just told him it was chicken casserole.  And, sure enough, he started eating it -- and loved it -- before he realized it had green chile in there.  Score one for me!

I use 505 Southwest brand green chile sauce (Albuquerque based).  This sauce has a creamy look and texture which I love, but there's no cream in it.  If you can't find that, then use your favorite jar green chile sauce.  (El Pinto is my second favorite brand and Kroger's / Fry's carries it).  Also, you'll want to use the amount of sauce to make it to your taste.  505 Southwest is a little bit hot -- although, I don't think it's at all bad (I can eat this stuff with a spoon, straight from the jar).  Brian is not a big heat fan, so I have to tone it down a bit for him.  However, I did use the whole jar in this and he thought it was perfect.

Also, I use the little mini tortillas that we buy straight from a tortilla factory here.  If you can't find those, you can certainly just use regular corn tortillas.  It won't change anything -- I just used the mini ones because I had them already thawed out in the fridge.

Finally, as I'm watching caloric intake somewhat, I made this with the Healthy Request/reduced fat soup, low fat sour cream, and skim milk.  I had regular Mexican cheese in the fridge, so I used that.  Next time I make this specifically, I'll buy the reduced fat version and give that a try.  If you're less concerned about calories, you can use the regular versions of the ingredients.

Finally, finally . . . I actually made this in advance, up to just before topping with the cheese, covered it with foil, and stuck it in the fridge.  When I got home from the gym, I put the cheese on and baked it while I was in the shower.  Came out great!  So, if you need something you can make and refrigerate, this works very well.

Okay, enough of that.  Here's the good stuff:





1 package of mini corn tortillas (about 18)
2 lbs chicken breast – cooked and cubed or shredded
1 jar of green chile sauce (505 Southwest is the best) OR green chile sauce to taste
2 cans cream of chicken soup (I used Campbell’s Healthy Request reduced-fat)
½  to ¾ C. low-fat sour cream
1 C. skim milk
2 C. cooked white rice
2 C. roasted corn kernels (I use frozen roasted corn kernels, but you can use regular)
1 to 2 C. chicken stock (to desired consistency)
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 t. cumin
8 oz. shredded Mexican cheese blend (reduced fat version, if you want to reduce fat and calories)
Black olives, sliced (optional)



Preheat oven to 375.

In a saucepan, mix together the green chile sauce, soup, sour cream, ½ cup of the chicken stock, salt, pepper, and cumin, and cook over medium heat until thoroughly mixed and heated through.  Add more chicken stock until the mix is the desired consistency.  You may want to make the sauce a little thinner than you think you want it, because the tortillas and rice will soak up some of the liquid.

Add the rice and corn and stir until well mixed into the sauce.  Remove from heat.

Spray a 9x13 baking dish with non-stick spray.

Add a small amount of sauce to the bottom of the dish.  Then layer tortillas, chicken, and ½ the remaining sauce..  Add a final layer of the tortillas on top, then pour the rest of the sauce over the tortillas, making sure each tortilla is covered with sauce (to prevent drying out while baking).  Top with the shredded cheese and black olives.

Bake about 30 minutes, until bubbly and heated through.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Bountiful Baskets - December 18, 2010 through January 8, 2011

Okay, I've been slacking off a little in getting my baskets posted on here.  Originally, I thought we were going to have two weeks off in a row, for Christmas and New Year.  They decided to offer the baskets in Arizona only, though, and my usual site decided to open for those days.

I really liked most of the basket contents for those weeks, too, so I'm glad I went ahead and ordered.  I've been making a lot of soup lately, so it was nice to have some vegetables for soups I love.  I've made two batches of Roasted Tomato Soup, which is posted below.  I've also made Roasted Cauliflower soup (posted further down) and Broccoli Soup.

Aside from using some of the veggies just as standard side dishes (sauteed green beans, yum!), I also made an amazing frittata using some of the onion, squash, tomatoes, jalapeno, avocado, and cilantro that I've gotten in both the conventional basket and the Mexican pack.  With it, I made an absolutely fantastic Roasted Tomatillo - Jalapeno Cream Sauce.  I had roasted the tomatillos and jalapenos from the first Mexican pack (they were offered 2 weeks in a row and I ordered them) -- I had intended to add them to the tomato soup, but it was just so good already that I just put the tomatilloes and jalapenos in the fridge.  I decided to try the cream sauce just to use them, and so glad I did!  I could put that on just about anything!  Thinking of making another batch with this last week's Mexican pack.

Potatoes are always welcome.  I made garlic mashed potatoes and Truffle Potato Chips with Parm-Regg -- homemade potato chips sprinkled with Pink Himalayan Salt and grated parm-regg, then drizzled and tossed with a little bit of white truffle oil.  Mmmm, mmmmm!

I also made pureed cauliflower -- a great stand-in for mashed potatoes on its own, or mixed half-and-half with regular mashed potatoes.  I love cauliflower anyway, but I love having it as a side "starch" that's practically guiltless.

As always, I'm trying to work more vegetables into my regular eating, both to be more healthful and to have less produce that goes bad before I get to it.  I know I should really probably pause for a week, but I've somehow convinced myself that if I do that, that week's basket will be the best ever and I'll have missed it.  So I keep ordering!

Another item I was SO glad to see in the extras was the sourdough bread.  It was offered one week a few months ago and I tried it.  It was the best bread I can ever remember having.  Ever.  And I'm not normally much of a bread eater, but this was just so awesome that we finished off the 5-loaf pack in less than two weeks.  Two people!  I was making a lot of sandwiches and garlic - parm bread.  So when I saw that it was offered again this last week, I ordered 3 packs!  Fifteen loaves for the two of us!  Fourteen of those are now taking up a chunk of my chest freezer, but I'm glad to have another stash.

Also worth a mention are the honeycrisp apples we got a couple of weeks ago.  I don't think I've ever tried them before, but I became addicted!  I don't eat a lot of apples -- see my laments on the supreme excess of apples and pears I STILL have.  But I'd heard such good raves about these particular apples that I had to try them.  Amazing!  My favorite snack now is honeycrisp slices with "caramel apple" dip.  I mixed light cream cheese with brown sugar and pure vanilla and the flavor is reminiscent of caramel apple when the apples are dipped in it.  I liked them so much that, when I ran out of the ones in my basket, I actually bought more at Trader Joe's!  Goofy to buy yet more produce when I already have so much, but I couldn't help myself.  De-LISH.

I'll try to get some of the recipes mentioned above posted on here this week, so check back later for those.

Now, without further ado, here are the basket contents for the last four weeks:




December 18, 2010



11 bananas
1 honeydew
1 bag of red grapes
1 3 lb bag of Fuji apples
1 pomegranate
10 Roma tomatoes
10 sweet potatoes
7 Yukon gold potatoes
4 Anaheim peppers
2 butternut squash
2 Mexican gray squash
1 head of Romaine

Add-on:  4 loaves of artisan rye bread ($10)


December 24, 2010



6 Roma tomatoes
3 cucumbers
1 head of Romaine
1 bunch of broccoli
1 head of cauliflower
1 yellow onion
1 head of garlic
1bunch of cilantro
9 Mandarin oranges
7 Braeburn apples
6 pears
2 Asian pears
6 bananas
1 pineapple


December 31, 2010



9 red potatoes
3 green bell peppers (gave those away)
2 heads of cauliflower
2 tomatoes
1 bunch of celery
1 bag of green beans
1 head of leaf lettuce
1 bunch of spinach
7 Honeycrisp apples
6 Minneola tangelos
5 pears
3 bananas
2 avocados
1 cantaloupe

Add-on:  Mexican Pack ($7.50)

10 tomatillos
4 yellow limes
4 avocados
3 jalapenos
3 green onions
2 yellow onions
2 Mexican gray squash
1 bunch of cilantro
1 head of garlic


January 8, 2011



10 Minneola tangelos
7 bananas
6 kiwis
5 Concorde pears
1 6 oz. container of blackberries
1 pineapple
14 Brussels sprouts
5 tomatoes
3 yellow squash
2 English cucumbers
2 bunches of celery
1 head of romaine


Add-on:  Mexican Pack ($7.50)

10 tomatillos
6 jalapenos
6 lemons
4 avocados
3 Mexican gray squash
2 yellow onions
2 bunches of green onions
1 bunch of cilantro

Add-on:  3x 5-packs of French country sourdough bread (15 loaves)  ($10/per pack = $30)