Sunday, May 17, 2009

Enchilada Casserole Creation

I seem to get so frustrated every time I make enchiladas because the rolled corn tortillas either crack or unravel in the pan and turn into one big mess. This time I decided to make it in the form of a lasagna-type casserole and it turned out great!

Ingredients are a rough estimate, as I don't usually measure everything when I create something new...everything is to taste...but I did my best to remember!

Ingredients:

18-24 corn tortillas
2 bottles of Trader Joe's Enchilada sauce (AMAZING - not even worth making it from scratch)
2-3 chicken breasts, boiled and shredded
2 1/2 cups shredded cheese (Mexican blend - usually 4 cheeses from Trader Joe's)
1 1/2 cups corn (more or less)
1 1/2 cups sliced bell peppers (more or less - blend of red, green and yellow)
1 1/2 onions, chopped
2 4oz cans Ortega chili peppers, diced (or one 7 oz can)
1 large bunch of cilantro, chopped
1 jalapeño, chopped
1 packet fajita seasoning
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 teaspoons ground cumin, or to taste
Salt and pepper to taste - add Sriracha for added kick if desired

Directions:

In pan, heat the vegetable oil and sauté the onions until slightly wilted. Remove from the head and add the fajita seasoning, jalapeños, ground cumin, salt and pepper and mix well.

In a large bowl combine the shredded chicken, sautéed onions and spice mixture, diced Ortega chili peppers, corn, bell pepper, cilantro and mix well.

In a 9x13 pan (I used a glass Pyrex), pour enough enchilada sauce to simply cover the bottom of the pan, but not too much. Lay corn tortillas over the sauce to cover the bottom, either 6 or 8 should be enough, overlapping each one slightly. Put one layer of the chicken mixture on top of the tortillas, top with cheese and about 1 cup of the enchilada sauce. Repeat the layering of tortillas, chicken mixture, cheese and sauce until you run out of chicken (or until you run out of space). The final layer should be tortillas, sauce, and cheese on top.

Bake for about 40 minutes or until cheese is melted and sauce appears to be bubbling.

Serve with sour cream, guacamole, and salsa.

Enjoy!

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