Chicken Enchiladas

[kathy123]

Hi!

I am cooking chicken enchiladas for the first time. What do you recommend for side dishes? Any recipes would be appreciated.

Thank you

[AndreaU]

How about Spanish rice? Refried beans? Corn bread?

[Gail]

Hi Kathy,

Although the perennial favorites seem to be rice and refried beans, chicken enchiladas are also nice with salad and rice, with black beans (either refried or simply boiled) and some sort of corn mixture, or you can really break with tradition and do a Mexican version of green beans with rice. I'm not posting recipes, 'cause I'm sure they're already here. Try running a search (upper right hand, next to FAQ) and typing in something like enchiladas or Mexican as your topic, then under search options click on "search titles only" (or topic, or however it's worded...)

Good luck, and eat some of those pups for me! :)

[kathy123]

Hi Gail and Andrea!

Thank you for the great ideas! I will definately do corn bread because it's easy and a salad.

Do you buy spanish rice out of a box? Is there a favorite brand?

Thanks again!
I'm looking forward to trying your ideas. (Gail I will do a search for other suggestions)

Kathy

[cher48603]

Kathy,
For a very quick and easy side dish for Mexican foods I mix 1 can of corn (drained), 1 can black beans (drained and rinsed) and some chunky salsa (just kind of eye-ball it). Add some chopped celery, black olives and any other veggies etc. that you want.

Cheryl

[little_bopeep]

I like Mahatma Spanish rice...comes out great every time that I actually follow the directions. :D And I like to serve it with a nice Mexican salad with chips and beans and stuff in it. Yum!

[AndreaU]

Near East does a good Spanish rice- no MSG and other unpronouncable stuff.

[Chiffonade]

Originally posted by kathy123
I am cooking chicken enchiladas for the first time.

Is this a light recipe? Or a regular one? The only enchiladas I have ever made required the cook to dip each corn tortilla into hot oil for a few seconds, then bathe the tortillas in enchilada sauce to begin the process. Care to post the recipe?

[kathy123]

Hi Again!

Thank you for all the great tips...

Chiffonade - I have not yet tried the recipe so I don't want to post it until I've tried it. I did search the boards for other recipes though. There are are ton.

Gail, one of your old posts mentions a Mexican Ceasar Salad. I was not able to find a recipe for this anywhere. Do you mind sharing your recipe?

Cheryl - I love your idea. I love Italian Stewed tomatoes with Meatloaf. I know I've seen Mexcian Stewed tomatoes also. I could start with that as a base and add your suggestions.

Andrea and bopeep - thanks for the brand names. I went to the store before I saw your post and bought Casbah Spanish rice. I hope its okay.

Thanks again for your help

[Gail]

Originally posted by kathy123
...

Gail, one of your old posts mentions a Mexican Ceasar Salad. I was not able to find a recipe for this anywhere. Do you mind sharing your recipe?...



Kathy,

Sorry, wasn't on line yesterday.

Help me out, would you? (I'm trying not to use the mouse, 'cause I'm feeling like I have the beginnings of some carpal tunnel thing, so I'm keeping my intenet use to a minimum for a few days.) Can't recall posting a recipe, though I'm pretty sure I did make mention of Caesar Salad having originated in Mexico. So, if you were thinking of a different slant on conventional Caesar salad, that wouldn't be it. If you want me to go through my recipe files and look for it, I will (that, at least, won't use the mouse, so I don't mind).

Did whatever I wrote merely mention Caesar Salad, or did it seem to imply there was something unusual about it? (That might help pin down where to look for it-- books or my files.)

[greysangel]

chiffonade-

there is a GREAT Cooking Light recipe for enchiladas de pollo from aug 2001...do a search and it will come up...these rocked!

JeAnne

[Jewel]

If you're ever looking for boxed rice mixes again we LOVE Near East stuff! They make a Roasted Garlic & Pecan Pilaf that DH and I could eat every week! :D Also a Creamy Parmesan that contains whole grains and barley. YUM! Our other favorites are the Zatarains mixes.

I always try to make my own, but in a pinch those are the two boxed brands that I will use with no guilt! Zatarains Jambalaya with Hilshire Farms Lean & Hearty Keilbasa and extra tomato sauce is a killer dinner, and also makes great lunches! ;)

[SandyM]

Hi Kathy,

I found a dreadfully easy (and fabulous) recipe for Mexican Rice on allrecipes.com - I tried to dig out the recipe again, but that site is very slow today. I've done it so many times, though, I have the recipe committed to memory. I think it would go fabulously with enchiladas.

Here's the list of ingredients as given on the site - I've added my revisions in parens:


1 tsp olive oil
1 small onion, diced (I use one large - I love onion)
1 cup long grain rice, uncooked
1/2 tsp ground cumin (I was generous with the cumin)
1/2 tsp chili powder (also generous with this - used Penzeys Hot)
4 oz canned diced tomatoes (huh? why bother? I used a whole 14 oz. can!)
1 tsp table salt (I skip this)
1 1/2 cup water (I use chicken broth)

Saute the onion in the olive oil until translucent. Stir in rice, cumin, chili powder, tomatoes; slowly add water (or broth). Bring to a boil; lower heat, simmer 15-20 minutes until rice is tender and all of the liquid is absorbed.

[c9pilot]

I have to put in my pitch for the Mahatma rices as well. The Spanish rice is excellent for the ease of preparation - I add the optional ketchup and my kids love it.

Once I spent a couple of hours preparing a Cuban dinner with "Havana rice" - after chopping onions and measuring spices and sauteing the hard rice and everything - it tasted no better than the Mahatma yellow rice! I'm completely sold.

[kathy123]

Hi Again!

Well I cooked them tonight......what an experience....I did not eat them I actually cooked them for a friend who is sick. I brought everything over to her house. I hope they tasted okay.

However, after the fact I realize I need more help for the next time around

1) The recipe called for a putting 1/4 cup chicken mixture in each tortilla, then folding putting the seam down into the pan. How should I have folded them? They were 6 inch tortillas. I just sort of rolled them. Should I have tried to fold the ends in?

2) How much sauce should I have over the enchiladas. I seem to have tons. Should the enchiladas be totally covered or only partially covered?


Gail, in your other post you made mention of a Mexican Ceasar salad. You did not mention the recipe or anything else. If the recipe is not handy or if it is not a recipe you do regularly do not worry about it. I just bought a Mexican premade salad from the store.

Sandy, thanks for the recipe. I was not to impressed with the rice out of the box that I cooked. I'll use your recipe the next time.

Jewel, thanks for the tip. I will add them to my shopping list.

Thanks again everyone

[Gail]

Kathy,

Since I've posted so many Mexican things over the space of the last years, I'm honestly not sure about this recipe. Will check and see if it shows up in my files and such, but my arm just isn't in shape for all the mouse-clicking required to go through all those past threads. (Normally, it's no big deal-- hope you understand...)


Since I do a lot of enchilada-making, I'll answer the other questions. Really, there are many ways to serve enchiladas: stacked, folded in half or rolled-- the ones you normally see seem to be rolled, so you did fine. The amount of sauce is a personal thing-- Americans seem to like lots of tastes, Mexicans don't always use as much. My one suggestion to you is that you make sure the tortilla surfaces are all at least coated with the sauce. Any part you DON'T cover with sauce tends to crispy when you bake them. I also find that if you have TONS of sauce, the enchiladas have a lot more tendency to go mushy. Generally, I'll pour some sauce at the bottom of the pan just to coat it, then line up my enchiladas and add a bit more to coat. You don't want them SWIMMING, though...