Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Enchiladas with homemade sauce

Kevin loves enchiladas and I had yet to fix some for him, so last night I set out to right that situation.  I had a couple enchilada recipes but they just weren't cutting it for me.  I didn't feel like loads of sour cream and other fattening ingredients to make this Mexican dish, so I went on a search and came up lucky!  This is a simple sauce recipe and you can add or subtract ingredients at will.  I made my own tweaks and this is what I came up with.

  • Vegetable oil
  • 2 tablespoons self-rising flour OR corn starch (I used corn starch because well, you know...)
  • 1/4 cup New Mexico or California chili powder (I used a Taco seasoning & chili powder combination)
  • 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
  • 1 cup water
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder OR 2-3 cloves freshly minced garlic (I bet you can guess what I used!)
  • 1/4 teaspoon onion salt OR 1/4 cup freshly chopped onion
  • 1/4 cup chopped green pepper
  • 3 jalapeno rings, diced
  • salt to taste
  • 1 large boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into small bite-sized pieces 
In a medium sauce pan, begin heating oil (2 or 3 turns around the pan) over medium heat .  Add in fresh garlic, green pepper, and onion.  Stirring occasionally, let the flavors come together and allow the vegetables to soften (approximately 5 minutes).  Add in jalapenos.  In the mean time, cook the chicken pieces on a skillet over medium heat until no longer pink inside.  Returning to the sauteed vegetables, add 1 Tbsp of cornstarch and mix thoroughly.  Pour in one can of tomato sauce and mix.  Add chili powder, taco seasoning, cumin and salt according to your personal preference (I didn't use exact measurements.)  Add one more Tbsp. of corn starch and stir thoroughly.  Add in 1 cup water.  Allow to heat through completely and allow the mixture to thicken.  Add small sprinkles of cornstarch until mixture is slightly thickened (it will still be fairly runny--like a taco sauce consistency.)  Add in chicken.  

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease an 8x8 in glass baking dish.  Fill the centers of soft corn or flour tortillas with the mixture.  Roll and place seam-side down in the baking dish.  Pour additional sauce over the enchiladas.  Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until heated through.  Sprinkle with colby or cheddar (or any) cheese, and bake another 5 minutes, until cheese is melted.  

Enjoy!  

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