Inspired to Share: Queso and Swayze Sauce

I just happened across this video and I want everything in it right now. I want to make it and eat it and maybe also swim in it. But I am not going to the store again today.

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

Dave joked to me the other day that my body content is 80% sour cream.  Which is probably true considering how much of that deliciousness I was eating with my breakfast when he said.  So much, in fact that I almost reached for his ramekin of sour cream after I finished mine.

There's no real point to this anecdote other than a) I love sour cream and b) this recipe uses it.

This recipe is slightly adapted from Iowa Girl Eats' Lazy Girl's Chicken Enchilada Casserole but I made a few modifications.  First, I made the enchilada sauce.  It's not turribly difficult to make and I wanted to try this tomato-less sauce.  The sauce recipe I used is listed below and I used the full 2 cups it yielded 'cuz we like things nice and saucy!

So without futher ado,

Chicken Enchilada Casserole (slightly adapted from Iowa Girl Eats)

1 lb chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces

salt

pepper

1 cup sour cream

1 batch enchilada sauce (below) or 2 cups prepared sauce

1 cup frozen corn, thawed

4 oz can of diced chiles

8ish corn tortillas, cut into strips

1 cup shredded cheese 

salsa, for serving

green onions, for serving

extra sour cream, for serving

Preheat oven to 350.  Spray a 9x13 baking dish with non-stick spray and set aside.  Season chicken with salt and pepper and brown in a well-oiled skillet.  Remove from heat.  Mix sour cream, enchilada sauce, corn and chiles in a large bowl.  Add chicken and tortilla strips to the bowl and mix well.  Pour mix into baking dish and top with cheese.  Bake for 20 minutes.  After allowing to cool slightly, serve garnished with salsa, green onions and sour cream.

Enchilada Sauce (slightly adapted from Gimme Some Oven)

1/2 onion, minced

2 tbsp canola oil

2 tbsp flour

3 tbsp chili powder

1 tbsp Chipotle Southwest seasoning

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp oregano

2 cups chicken broth

Put a pan over medium heat.  Add minced onion and cook until slightly softened.  Add oil and flour and stir until slightly browned.  Add seasonings and stir well.  Slowly add chicken broth and stir well while it thickens, about 10 minutes.  Remove from heat.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Dave came back from our Thanksgiving trip home with a cold and when asked what kind of soup he wanted, he told me "chicken tortilla soup but no tomatoes".  I did some Googling and voila!  Pioneer Woman had a chicken tortilla soup that sounded delicious though I had to do some tweaking because Dave later informed me he didn't want beans in it either.  Which I later found out was good because we'd eaten all the canned beans we usually keep stocked.  You'll notice I added tomato paste to the soup.  First of all, I asked Dave if it would hurt his feelings if I added the paste and he allowed it.  It doesn't add a tomato-y flavor but it adds a depth that worked well with the spices.

This tasty soup was warm and filling and I wanted to make it again because we ate it rather quickly.  I haven't made it again yet but we still have some corn tortillas left so I'll probably make it again soon.

Ingredients:

2 whole boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 onion, diced
6 sweet mini peppers, diced (could use 1 bell pepper instead)
3 cloves garlic
4oz can diced green chiles
4 14 oz cans chicken broth
1 cup frozen corn, thawed
2 tbsp tomato paste
4 corn tortillas cut into strips
avocado
sour cream
cilantro
shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 375.  Mix together cumin, chili powder, garlic powder and salt in a small ramekin.  Drizzle chicken breasts with about 1 tablespoon olive oil and enough seasoning mix to coat both sides.  Place seasoned breasts in a glass dish and roast about 20 minutes, until chicken is cooked through.

While the chicken is roasting, drizzle about 1 tablespoon olive oil in a pot over medium heat.  Saute onion and bell peppers a couple of minutes, until they start to soften.  Sprinkle with remaining spice mix and stir until veggies are well coated.  Add garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute.  Add the green chiles and chicken broth and bring to a simmer.  Let simmer while your chicken cooks.

Let chicken rest about 5 minutes after removing from oven.  Cut into pieces and add to soup.  Simmer about 5 minutes.  Add corn and tomato paste.  While flavors are melding, slice up your tortillas and cut up avocado.  Place a small handful of tortilla strips to your serving bowl, ladle soup over it and garnish with avocado, sour cream, cilantro and shredded cheese.  Then eat up!

Adapted from The Pioneer Woman

Creamy Taco Mac

In the span of about 10 minutes I went from "I don't want to cook dinner" to "oooh, taco mac!".  Cuz that's how I roll.  I've seen about a dozen variations of taco mac come through my Google Reader (which reminds me, I should probably find myself a replacement for that) and it turns out I had most of the fixin's to try out the recipe.  I made a few substitutions because that's what I do but it got a glowing review from Dave so this is clearly a keeper.  I still want to try it as written though.

The photo was taken right before we dug in, fresh out of the pan.  The pasta definitely absorbed the sauce in the fridge so leftovers weren't quite as soupy.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 lb ground turkey
8 ounces medium pasta shells
1 medium onion, diced
1 bell pepper, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 tbsp taco seasoning, divided
1 can of diced tomatoes
2 triangles Laughing Cow cheese
1/2 cup half and half
salt
pepper
shredded cheddar
hot sauce

Cook pasta according to directions, reserving 1/4 cup pasta water and mixing it with 1 tsp bouillon concentrate.

Brown your turkey, breaking it up really well.  Add about 2 tbsp taco seasoning to the meat.  Once the meat is mostly browned, throw in the onions. Stir them around until the onions start to soften and add the bell pepper and garlic.  After they cook about a minute, add tomatoes and stir.  As soon as the juices start to lightly bubble, add the cheese triangles and melt.  Stir in the cooked pasta.  Add half and half, pasta water, salt and pepper and a handful of shredded cheddar. Simmer for about 5 minutes to reduce the sauce and let the flavors meld.

Serve with additional shredded cheddar and hot sauce on top.

Adapted from Annie's Eats

Almost Chipotle's Corn Salsa

I remember when Chipotle first came to my hometown.  They were across the street and a few doors down from my dad's office so when I would work for him after school, he would sometimes send me over there to get us a nosh.  And by nosh he meant a burrito.  Each.  I miss working for him.

When I saw this recipe, I was super excited to try it out at home because I love their corn salsa.  Sadly, my cilantro was looking a little lackluster so I left it out and thusly, my salsa was a little lackluster.  I want to try it again with some fresh and crisp cilantro though, so I found it blog-worthy.

This was also my first time chopping fresh jalapenos.  When people advise you to wear gloves, take them seriously!  I somehow got some jalapeno essence under my nose and damn, it burned for a couple of hours.

The recipe below doesn't include cilantro since that's the way I made it. This is the after photo from us munching on it with chips and adding it to our salads.  Also, I used way too big a bowl because my spatial abilities are lacking when it comes to figuring out what size vessel to use.

Ingredients:

12 oz bag of frozen corn, defrosted and drained
2 jalapenos, seeded and chopped
1/2 red onion
1/4 lime juice
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Mix ingredients together in a mediumish bowl.  Add more salt, pepper, lime to taste.

Recipe from How Sweet It Is