Sweet and Spicy Chicken Enchiladas

New babies galore around these parts so I have started up my meals-to-go service again. When B was born, one of the most amazing things our friends and family did for us was to bring us dinners on a regular basis for the first few months. My dear friend Amber set us up with a rocking meal schedule from TakeThemAMeal.com which allowed everyone to sign up to stop by and see what others were bringing.
Since I love to pay it forward, I am now excited to offer the same sort of help to many of my mommy friends who are in the newborn trenches as we speak. The trick to a good meal-to-go is something that stores well, reheats well and is just easy to transfer. I always like to take my meals in disposable containers with labels and instructions on any final prep items.

My most recent meal was for my dear friend Kate (see Charlottes amazing MOBU birthdayparty.) She and her husband love Mexican food so I decided to do a traditional Mexican dish with a twist: Sweet and Spicy Chicken Enchiladas. I doubled the recipe so that I could feed both their family and ours with just a little bit of extra prep work. I also made the chicken filling a day ahead of time and stored it in the fridge because I knew I would be super busy this week and wouldn’t have time to properly cook it all in a single stretch. These yummy treats would also be a perfect freezer friendly item to prepare ahead of time for big parties. My tip there would be to just leave off the cheese when freezing and add it on right before you pop them in the oven. The verdict around my place was a big two thumbs up, hopefully Kate and Co enjoyed it too.

1 Sweet potato

1 C black beans, drained and rinsed

1 lb chicken, boneless skinless

1 C chicken stock

1 package of taco seasoning

1 jar pineapple or peach salsa (I love the Trader Joes or Safeway brand)

1 can enchilada sauce

16 corn tortillas

1 bag shredded Mexican cheese

1 can diced green chilies

2 C diced pineapple

Optional Toppings:

703 Mommyand Me Pineapple Salsa

Greek Yogurt or Sour Cream

In a large crock pot add chicken, Mexican seasoning, stock, beans and a peel and chunk the sweet potato. Cook on low for 4 hours. Pull the cooked chicken apart and slowly mash the potato until the entire mixture is a thick stew consistency. If you are going to assemble the enchiladas right away continue, if not, refrigerate this mixture for tacos, burritos or enchiladas later in the week.

Mix the enchilada sauce and pineapple salsa together and pour about half of it on the bottom of the tray. Heat a small amount of EVOO in a skillet and heat one corn tortilla until soft. Fill the tortilla with the chicken mixture and roll into a cigar. Place seam side down in the dish. Repeat using the remaining tortillas and chicken.

Pour the remaining salsa mixture over the rolled tortillas. Top with diced pineapple and green chilies. Sprinkle with cheese. Refrigerate until ready to cook or bake for 30 minutes at 350.  Before serving, top with salsa fresca and your cream of choice. 

recipe sources: gluten-free goddess