chicken enchiladas

Lately I have been so distracted with extravagant menus, crates of figs and trying my hand at Mexican-laden dishes (loved the swordfish!) that I forget to share with you the entrees that top my current weeknight go-to chart. Because I am all about lining up dish after dish of family favorites—parading them tastefully across my table week after week. What are your family’s favorite dishes? What dish do you go to again and again because ‘they all love it’, you can make it with your eyes closed, tweaked to your perfection?

Dishes that make our family list (yummo for them, easy for me, memorable… worth making again), I affectionately refer to as default dinners.

Chicken Enchiladas
Chicken thighs (no skin, no bones, fat cut off), cut in bite size pieces, marinated in enchilada sauce then sauteed/cooked through.
salsa — your favorite. OR my pico de gallo OR combo of leftover salsas in your fridge. (Ah the beauty of enchiladas)
1 bottle/can of enchilada sauce
corn tortillas (as many as you are making!)
cheese: mix of jack, cheddar, mexican cheese, gruyere, etc. (I shred or cut up any blend of hard cheeses I have on hand!)
optional: chop up and toss fresh cilantro or spring onions into the enchiladas (along with the chicken, cheese and salsa)

Oven to 350. If tortillas are fresh, saute on each side just to brown. If already cooked, simply dip in some of the enchilada sauce—to coat both sides. Then roll chicken, salsa and cheese inside each tortilla. Place seam side down in baking dish. When baking dish is full: pour enchilada sauce on top, then top with shredded cheese. Bake for 30 plus minutes. Serve warm with sour cream to top.

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amy said (6 January 2011 at 5:01 pm):

These look yummy, I will have to try this with my left over roasted chicken. My favorite go to meal I can cook with my eyes closed is tuscon white bean soup!! I crave it and love it with ciabatta bread:) I got it from Giada D, and have just changed the measurements. If you haven’t made it yet I bloged about it I loved it so much!! Try it:)
http://canningwife.blogspot.com/2010/10/soup-please.htmlfrom

Kirsten said (21 January 2011 at 11:59 am):

I have to thank you; I used to think that for cooking to be any good it had to be complex, and that you had to know complex techniques. Obviously, I hadn’t cooked very much before. I’m eighteen, still living at home while I go to uni, and have recently started cooking more – partially to help out my mom, who works as a cake decorator and gets tired of being in a kitchen all day, and so doesn’t like cooking too much, and partially to prepare myself for moving out. So, again, thank you: this blog is a great resource for me, the beginner. And this recipe? I made a variation of it (I had lots of leftover veggies in the fridge and wanted to use them up, and I also have a love affair with avocado, so I have to add it to most things), and my boyfriend and mother loved it. Simple and effective.

janelle (author) said (21 January 2011 at 2:11 pm):

Kirsten: So, so glad you found Talk of Tomatoes! And that you are in the kitchen being creative;). I am a pretty big fan of un-complicating recipes;). I tuck other quick meals under default dinners; and lotsa my appetizers are assembly-only… hope to be in your kitchen again soon!

Crab Enchiladas | Talk of Tomatoes said (14 February 2011 at 7:49 pm):

[...] out of my home). I changed it a tiny bit. I like to think of it as enchiladas for guests. I make enchiladas all the time for my family: midweek. I toss together chicken, some salsa and bottled enchilada sauce. Roll [...]

Basil Oil | Talk of Tomatoes said (7 August 2011 at 1:09 pm):

[...] whopping $5—just to see if I could perfect the sear we are ALL looking for. I made my family enchiladas from scratch, fresh salsa (pico de gallo, actually) and roasted pork with a quick rub and most [...]