Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Clean Eating's Chicken Enchiladas

Ok, don't judge this recipe by the photo.  It was one of those recipes that I made in a state of ravenousness (yes, that's a word....look it up.....) and I had no patience to make the photo look good.  I just took the photo and devoured the enchilada.  Literally. Devoured.

Before making and....devouring....these enchiladas, I couldn't remember the last time I had eaten one.  In fact, I don't know if I could have even sat down for ten minutes and came up with a memory of eating or making enchiladas.



They are so easy, why had I never made them before? That's a question to really ponder.




I found this recipe in Clean Eating Magazine.  I haven't been overly impressed with their recipes lately, but this one was a winner (and I'm pretty excited about some of their March issue recipes too.  I have a long list of recipes to try!).  Maybe we enjoyed this recipe because it involved cheese and tomato sauce, two things that pair together quite well in my (and Nick's) opinion.




Clean Eating Magazine's Chicken Enchiladas
Serves 4
Adapted from a recipe in Clean Eating Magazine

Ingredients
4 large whole wheat tortillas **
1-cup shredded extra sharp white cheddar cheese
3-cups shredded or chopped grilled chicken (~1.5 pounds)
1 cup chopped mushrooms **
4-ounces green chiles (from a can)
1 tsp. hot sauce
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. chile powder
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. sea salt


Sauce
15-ounces all-natural tomato sauce **
1 clove garlic, minced **
1.5 tsp. chile powder
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

NOTE**:  If you follow a Low FODMAPs diet, omit the garlic and mushrooms, and look for a gluten-free tortilla.  Also, it's hard to find a garlic and onion-free tomato sauce, so for those who are really sensitive this may not be a great recipe, period.  I had to suffer a bit to enjoy this recipe.....

Directions
1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2.  Combine chicken, green chiles, hot sauce, cumin, 1 tsp. chile powder, 1/2 tsp. black pepper, and 1/4 tsp. sea salt in a large skillet pan over medium-high heat and cook until heated through, about 5 minutes.  Remove mixture from pan and set aside.

3.  Combine all sauce ingredients in the same nonstick pan used for the chicken.  Set over medium heat and cook until warm, about 10 minutes.

4.  Spread a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of an 8 x 11-inch casserole dish.  Divide chicken mixture evenly among tortillas, fold right and left sides over to close and place, seam-side-down, snuggly in a casserole dish.  Top enchiladas evenly with remaining sauce and sprinkle with cheese.  Bake on center rack for 20 minutes. 

Ummmm, that's a lot of sodium! I'm not entirely sure how accurate this estimate is, but either way it might be best to omit the extra sea salt, and look for a low-sodium tomato sauce. Just saying...yikes!


Nutrition Highlights:  Under 500 calories (really not bad for a rich enchilada!), excellent source of fiber, protein, calcium, vitamin C, and iron, good source of vitamin A.



These babies were bursting with flavor.  They were slightly messy, sure, but a good enchilada should be messy, right??





QUESTION:  When was the last time you made enchiladas? Do you have a favorite recipe? Please share it!

Thanks for reading!

The Candid Rd

NOTE: I love comments!  But, be sure to come back to read any replies to questions or comments, as they do not go directly to your e-mail.

10 comments :

  1. It has cheese, so it must be good. ;) I like homemade enchiladas more than restaurant versions. I actually kinda-sorta made some this week, actually.

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  2. so funny you just posted about this- I'm actually planning on making black bean enchiladas tonight!

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  3. I haven't had enchiladas in a long time. These sound good!

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  4. I love Clean Eating magazine. But you're right... I haven't been all that excited about their recipes lately. They've been kinda...out there for me. Hopefully with Spring coming they'll have some good stuff!

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  5. It's been a few years since I've made enchiladas myself, but I do love them! Cheese and tomato sauce go over pretty good at my place, too! :)

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  6. Actually, these enchiladas looks incredibly good! Maybe it has something to do with the cheese, which instantly upgrades any picture (and meal!) from yummy to amazing ;)

    I've been meaning to ask: what program do you use for your nutrition label? I've been looking for something like that!

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  7. hahah ugh i hate when I come up with a great recipe and I'm just so hungry that I inhale the entire thing and don't even notice the taste - I mean I'm not sure if that's what you did haha but still I never get pictures of the good food because I'm to obusy eating!

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  8. I repinned this first thing this morning when I saw it on pinterest! ;-) can't wait to fix it this weekend!! :-)

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  9. I made them last week using left over chicken, spinach and mushrooms for the filling and I cheated and used Target's chipolte salsa. I have them on my menu for tonight using the leftover chicken from your pulled chicken recipe a few weeks back. This time I will use Joseph's Oat Bran, Flax seed wraps over tortillas (lower calories) and I will sneak in some sweet potato, black bean enchiladas next week! Yes, I love enchiladas.

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    Replies
    1. Nice!! Thanks for sharing your feedback :) And you combined two of my recipes?! This is great!! Those wraps sound fabulous, and the idea to sneak in black beans and sweet potato? Brilliant!

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