Chicken & White Bean Enchiladas with Creamy Salsa Verde

This is my first recipe from http://www.skinnytaste.com/ that I made....delicious.  I used corn tortillas instead of low-carb because that's what I had on hand, and I omitted the garlic.  I cooked an 8 oz chicken breast in chicken broth on the stovetop and shredded it when it cooled.

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
• 15.5 oz can Navy beans (or Cannellini beans)
• 8 oz cooked shredded chicken breast
• 1/3 can water
• 1 chicken bullion
• 1 tsp cumin

Green Chile Enchilada Sauce:

• 1 tsp butter
• 1/2 cup chopped white onion
• 2 tbsp flour
• 1 cup fat free chicken broth
• 7 oz can chopped green chile
• 2 jalapeños, chopped (I used jarred)
• salt
• 1/2 cup light sour cream
• 3/4 cup reduced fat Mexican cheese
• 8 medium low carb tortillas
• chopped fresh cilantro or scallions (or both!)

Preheat oven to 375°.


For the Filling:
In a medium pan, heat olive oil on low. Add onions, garlic and saute until soft, about 2-3 minutes. Add green chiles, beans, water, bullion, and cumin. Mix well and cover. Simmer on low 15 minutes. Remove cover, add chicken and cook an additional 5 minutes, or until it thickens and liquid boils down. Set aside.

Green Chile Enchilada Sauce:
In a large nonstick pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion softens and starts to turn translucent, about 3-4 minutes. Add flour and stir well. Cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Slowly whisk in the chicken broth. Whisk until the sauce becomes smooth. Cook over medium heat until the sauce boils and thickens, about 4-5 minutes. Add green chiles, jalepeños, and salt to tatse. Cook another minute then remove from the heat. Stir in the sour cream.

Spread about 1/4 cup of the enchilada sauce on the bottom of a 9x13" baking dish. Fill each tortilla with 1/3 cup of the chicken/white bean filling. Roll the tortillas and place seam side down in the prepared baking dish. Continue filling remainder of the tortillas.

Pour the enchilada sauce over the top of the enchiladas. Top with cheese. Cover with aluminum and bake 20-30 minutes, until the enchiladas are hot and the cheese is melted. Remove from oven and top with fresh cilantro or scallions.

Coconut Shrimp Soup

I avoid shredded/flaked coconut like the plague, but I LOVE coconut milk.  I'm going to make this tonight, and probably double the recipe for leftovers.

Coconut Shrimp Soup

1 cup light coconut milk
1 cup water
½ teaspoon red curry paste
¼ teaspoon salt
1 (2 x ½ inch) strip of lime peel
¾ pound peeled and deveined large shrimp
½ cup julienne-cut fresh basil

Combine first 5 ingredients in a large saucepan, stirring with a whisk. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add shrimp; cover, reduce heat to medium, and cook 3 minutes or until shrimp turn pink. Remove and discard lime peel; stir in basil.

Buffalo Chicken Lasagna

I had seen several variations of this recipe, and decided to try Meagan's.

I assembled it all the night before and sent C to work with it.  The men said it was a hit! 

Buffalo Chicken Lasagna

1 lb chicken, cubes
3 cups Hunts 4 cheese marinara sauce
1 bottle mild buffalo sauce
1 cup ricotta cheese
2 eggs
1 T minced garlic
12 whole wheat lasagna noodles
9 slices 2% pepperjack cheese
Light ranch dressing

Preheat oven to 350. Cook the chicken in a large nonstick skillet until almost done. Add sauces and combine thoroughly. In a small bowl, combine eggs, ricotta, and garlic. Working in layers, add half a cup of sauce mixture in the bottom of a greased 9x13 pan, followed by a layer of noodles, cheese, and more sauce. Repeat until noodles, sauce, and cheese are used. Bake covered for 70 minutes. Remove from oven, add pepperjack cheese to top. Bake uncovered for 15 additional minutes. Drizzle with ranch dressing. Let stand 10-15 minutes before serving.

Breakfast Enchiladas

I decided to get creative this morning.  C has a 5.5 mile race in 3 hours, and since my tiba hurts too much to run, I've made it my mission to feed him.



Breakfast Enchiladas

6 organic eggs
assorted chopped organic veggies (I used jalepeno, red pepper, green pepper, and red onion)
cooked crumbled sausage (optional)
cumin
cayenne pepper
6-10 corn tortillas
1 jar of bottled enchilada sauce (I used Trader Joe's Organic Enchilada Sauce)
1 cup shredded cheese of your desire (I did a mixture of pepperjack, mozzarella, and cheddar)

Preheat over to 350 degrees.

Crack eggs into a large bowl.  Throw in chopped veggies and sausage, if you so desire.  Season with cumin and cayenne pepper to your taste.  Whisk gently to combine.

Preheat a large skillet to medium heat, and gently pour contents of egg mixture onto skillet.  Scramble eggs until done, but still slightly wet.  Transfer contents back to (rinsed) large bowl.

In a medium saucepan, heat entire contents of enchilada sauce.  Using tongs, dip a corn tortilla in the enchilada sauce, making sure entire tortilla is covered.  Hold tortilla in the palm of your hand, then spoon egg mixture into it.  Roll the tortilla up and place, seam side down, into an 8x8 glass dish.  Repeat until you've used all the scrambled eggs & tortillas. 

Pour the remaining enchilada sauce from the saucepan over the tortillas.  Sprinkle top of enchiladas with cheese, and bake for 15-20 minutes, when the cheese is melted and bubbly.

Pumpkin Truffle FAIL

These taste great, really.  They just won't....come together?  I'll put down the recipe, and detail the problem after.

Pumpkin Cream-Cheese Truffles (courtesy of Whole Foods recipes)

2 1/2 cups white chocolate chunks (I used chips)
1/3 cup gingersnap cookie crumbs
1/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 TBSP confectioners' suger
1/2 TSP orange zest
1/8 TSP ground cinnamon
pinch of sat
2 ounces of cream cheese, softened

Melt 1/2 cup of the chocolate in a double boiler over medium-low heat.  Stir often to keep the chocolate from burning.  Transfer to a large bowl.  Add gingersnap crumbs, pumpkin, graham cracker crumbs, sugar, zest, cinnamon, salt, and cream cheese and beat with an electric mixer until smooth.  Transfer to a shallow bowl, cover and chill until just solid enough to roll into balls, about 2 hours.

Line a large sheet with parchment paper.  Melt remaining 2 cups of chocolate and transfer to a small, deep bowl.  Roll by the teaspoon the pumpkin mixture into a ball with our hands, then drop into the chocolate.  Working quickly, gently spoon chocolate over to coat.  Lift the truffle out with a small spoon, shake off excess chocolate, and set on prepared parchment paper.

Repeat process with remaining pumpkin and chocolate, chill truffles until chocolate is completely set, about 1 hour.






I just realized where I went wrong.  I melted HALF the chocolate originally, not half a cup.  Then just melted the remaining 1 1/4 cups to coat.  Whoops!  Somebody try it out and let me know how it works for you :)

Boyfriend Meatloaf

I call this 'Boyfriend Meatloaf' because it's a meatloaf that quite a few boyfriends have enjoyed :)  It's based on Cooking Light's Pizza-Style Meatloaf, with just a few modifications.

2/3 cup tomato sauce, divided
1 1/2 pounds extra-lean ground round
3/4 cup breadcrumbs
A pinch of  dried oregano, basil, and parsley
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/4 teaspoon koser salt 
1 large egg
3 oz shredded mozzarella cheese
1 diced red bell pepper
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350°.
Combine 1/3 cup sauce, meat, and  ingredients (sauce through egg) in a bowl.

Shape meat mixture into an rectangle on wax paper. Sprinkle cheeses over meat mixture; sprinkle with red bell pepper, leaving a 1-inch border. Roll meat mixture up jelly-roll fashion starting at short side. Pinch ends to seal.

Place meat loaf on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until meat loaf registers 160°. Brush 1/3 cup tomato sauce over meat loaf. Bake an additional 5 minutes or until done; let stand 10 minutes before slicing.

Whole-Wheat Peanut Butter Waffles

These worked out great this morning!  It made 16 waffles-I ate 2, C ate 3, and now we have quite a few in the fridge to eat the rest of this week, and a bunch in the freezer to pull out and throw in the toaster.

I've never liked breakfast as a course-but I'm learning to LOVE it.


2 & 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup reduced-fat peanut butter
1 & 1/2 tablespoons sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 & 1/4 cups skim milk
1/4 cup applesauce
Cooking spray

In a bowl, combine first seven ingredients with an electric mixer.

Preheat a waffle iron; when it is hot, spray lightly with cooking spray. 

Use a ladle to pour batter from bowl to the waffle iron.  Cook until waffles are golden brown.




These were delicious, and so super-easy.  C couldn't believe it...he said 'You made these homemade?  You did that just as fast as if you used a mix.'

You can say that again :)

Lazy Crockpot Monday

I'm working the dayshift today, so I thought I'd use my crockpot this morning.  When I get home from work, I can go running and then just sit down to dinner.  Hopefully chicken parmesan tastes good with vodka sauce...I had a homemade jar of sauce from a co-worker in the cabinet, but I couldn't get it open and C was still sleeping.



Slow-Cooker Chicken Parm

3-4 chicken breasts
Breadcrumbs
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
Basil, thyme, salt & pepper
1 egg
Shredded mozzarella cheese
1 jar of your favorite pasta sauce-enough to cover

1)  Crack the egg into a small bowl, and scramble with a fork.

2)  In another small bowl, fill about halfway with breadcrumbs.  Add 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, and a pinch each of basil, thyme, salt, & pepper.  Mix with a fork.

3)  Spray the insert of your slow cooker with cooking spray.

4)  One by one, take each chicken breast, dip into the egg, then coat with the breadcrumb mixture and place in the bottom of your slow-cooker.  Take care not to pile them one on top of each other.

5)  When all chicken is in the slow-cooker, sprinkle with a generous amount of mozzarella cheese, or whatever amount satisfies your dietary needs.  I used 2% Trader Joe's Mozzarella.

6)  Dump the jar of pasta sauce over the entire thing, making sure everything is covered.

7)  Cook for 6 hours on low, or 3-4 hours on high.

Blackfish Chowder

C and I caught 2 blackfish (tautog) while out fishing yesterday.  They are sneaky bastards!  Blackfish like to make lairs in/around rocks which can make them tricky to catch without snagging your line.  We used green crab as bait, but you could also use shrimp, clams, or mussels.  Be careful when pulling your hook out-they have powerful jaws with back teeth that look like molars.

They yielded 4 fillets (about 1 lb 9 oz).  C fillets them-I want nothing to do with that portion of it.  Too much work and too much patience required.

After asking my friend Zoe what she thought about recipes I had in mind, she recommended I try making a chower because of how well the fish holds together.  I googled away, and came up with a variation of a recipe that sounded really good.



Blackfish (Tautog) Chowder

10 oz - 1 lb blackfish (if you're trying to stretch out a little meat, like me, up the potatoes)
4 slices bacon
1 - 3 cups red potatoes, diced
1/2 cup white onion, roughly chopped
2 - 3 cups of water (when using more potato and less fish, you'll need more water)
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup clam juice\
1 (12-13 oz) can evaporated milk
3 tablespoons butter
kosher salt & pepper to taste

1)  After brining the fish, rinse & pat dry.  Cut into bite-sized pieces and set aside.

2)  Cut the bacon slices in half (not length-wise).  Cook in a skillet until crisp, turning once.  Place cooked bacon on a plate lined with paper towels, to drain excess fat, then crumble.  Toss bacon drippings, saving 2 tablespoons.

3)  In the same skillet, saute the onions in the 2 tablespoons bacon fat until onions are tender, approx 8 minutes.

4)  Transfer onions into a large stockpot, adding the potatos & water.  Cover & bring to a gentle boil.

5)  Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

6)  Add the fish and simmer for another 6-10 minutes, or until both fish or potatoes are done (fish will be white and flakey, potatoes soft but not falling apart).

7)  In a bowl, combine the flour & clam juice using a mini-whisk (or fork) until smooth.  Add to stockpot with onions/fish/potatoes.

8)  Stir in the evaporated milk & butter; salt & pepper to taste.  Don't be afraid of the salt-it really adds great flavor.  Heat over medium heat another 5 minutes, when chowder has thickened.

9)  Stir in crumbled bacon just prior to serving.




This is REALLY, really good.  This was my first time making any kind of chowder, as I am only a recent fan.