Lawrence.com

How do we love an enchilada? Let me count the ways. There's the easy-peasy "cheater" way, which never disappoints. There's the "I want to have ten million of its babies" way, with the authentic chili gravy and the beloved fried egg on top, and as of last night, there's this way, a healthier, spicier alternative to our usual cheese-and-sauce laden fare.

That's right, I said healthy. I'm not sayin' I'm going on a diet. I'm just sayin' I might like to lose a few pounds. If it doesn't require me to sacrifice time, flavor, or cheese. No problem, right?

Mr. Meat and Potatoes had been hinting around for a few days that an enchilada would be a welcome treat, but I've been trying to be a little tiny bit more, shall we say, responsible in my cooking lately, and I just couldn't justify fried tortillas or copious amounts of cheese or ground beef or greasy gravy.

Knowing that my husband loves a good salsa verde, I hoped to distract him with spiciness in leiu of fat content. People, it worked. I think this got as heartfelt rave reviews as any enchilada before - possibly, moreso. And, it was easy. It was a fairly no-trouble way to throw together a pan of enchiladas, and get some leftovers out the deal to boot.

I had never made a green chili sauce before, and I didn't want to do anything too fussy, so to be honest, I winged it. I had purchased a few random peppers at the store, and I figured it couldn't be too tough to turn them into a tasty enchilada sauce. I was right.

peppers by meganstuke

I started by giving a rough chop to two poblano peppers (oh, how I love them in their giant smokey greenness), a serrano pepper, a fresh jalapeno, a clove of minced garlic, and about a half a cup of chopped white onion. I tossed all that into the cast iron skillet with a tablespoon or two of extra virgin olive oil, and cooked until they were soft, and the onions translucent. Then I added a healthy dash of kosher salt, cracked black pepper, and a couple of teaspoons of cumin.

sauteeing peppers and onions by meganstuke

Next, I transferred the peppers and onions to the Cuisinart, and added two cups of chicken broth, and one and a half small cans of diced green chilis, and gave it a few pulses.

pureeing peppers by meganstuke

Finally, I stirred in a heaping tablespoon of sour cream, just for texture and smoothness.

chili verde sauce by meganstuke

What I loved about this was the simplicity - the small number of ingredients. Usually, making salsa or sauces means a bajillion dashes of this-and-that, so I enjoyed the straightforward nature of this, and decided not to muck with a lot of different flavors.

For the chicken, I just boiled about half a bag of chicken tenders (maybe 10 or so) in salty water for about twenty minutes.

naked chicken by meganstuke

Then I tranferred it to a bowl, gave it a light dusting of salt and pepper, and added the remaining half can of green chilis.

Traditionally, you should have a white cheese - like monterery jack - for this recipe, but I only had cheddar on hand, so that's what I used, and it was still delish.

Usually, I fry tortillas a tiny bit in order to soften them before using them for rolling an enchilada, but this time I didn't want the added fat, so I just warmed them in the microwave for thirty seconds. Then I transferred about half a cup of green chili sauce to the bottom of the baking dish, and started the procedure.

I set up my assembly line: chicken mixture, bowl of cheese, green sauce, tortillas, pan. Into each tortilla went about 1/3 C of chicken mix, a light sprinkling of shredded cheese, and a tablespoon or two of green chili sauce. I rolled them up tight, and shoved eight of them into my dish.

preparing enchiladas by meganstuke

After I rolled them all, I ladled a couple of tablespoons of chicken broth over everything to add a little flavor and soften the tortillas. Then I spooned more green chili sauce over it, sprinkled with cheese and some chopped cilantro - and sliced pickled jalapenos on Mr. Meat and Potatoes' half.

enchiladas sans cheese and garnish by meganstuke

I baked it for twenty minutes at 350, in which time I cooked some Spanish rice. This meal took about 40 minutes from start to finish. I had some peach and pineapple salsa, so I served that with some corn chips and thought the sweetness of the salsa was a good compliment to the spiciness of the enchiladas. Garnish with a dollop of sour cream (lite) and some more green chili sauce and fresh cilantro.

green chili enchiladas by meganstuke

Mr. Meat and Potatoes never knew what hit him. This meal is low in fat and calories, and could be made less so if you used low-fat cheese. I can go for lite sour cream and I can do without a fried tortilla, but low fat cheese is just a place to which I cannot travel. I'd rather use a light hand on the cheese than sacrifice the flavor, so that's what we did.

I already feel thinner today. It's working.