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

Citrus Chicken, Green Beans and Potatoes

Shortly after I had B my sister came to town to do the meet and greet. One of the best things she did for me was take me to whole foods and purchase about 10 lbs of meat which she then marinated and froze in individual portion sizes for me to pull out at a later date. It was awesome to have a protein ready to go whenever I need, especially one that had already been certified tasty and delicious. This citrus marinade was one of the chickens she made and I have been in love with it ever since.  It is light and fresh even out of the freezer. I love that it freezes well and that it is so versatile (it is also awesome on flank steak or fish.)

I know the list of ingredients in this dish sounds a bit funny but it actually molds together really well. The dish was totally created out of one of those last minute fridge digs where your kid is already napping and you are wondering why you didn’t think about going to the store that morning. Since the salad is made out of hearty vegetables it stands up well to time which made it a great pre-cooked meal which meant that B and I got to head to the pool for one of our final afternoon swims of the summer.  

Save a ½ C of the marinade to dress the salad which ties all the flavors back together really nicely.

Marinade:

1 orange, zested, juiced

1 lemon, zested, juiced

1 lime, zested, juiced

¼ C EVOO

2 garlic cloves, diced

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

S&P on the meat

1 lb boneless chicken thighs or breasts

3 C small potatoes, quartered

2 C green beans

2 hard boiled eggs

½ C fresh basil, chopped

1 orange, segmented and seeded

1 tbs whole grain mustard

1 tsp rice wine vinegar

EVOO

S&P

Marinate the chicken for at least an hour, up to overnight. Toss potatoes in S&P and EVOO and roast them for 30 minutes at 400. I did this in the toaster oven because I didn’t want to heat my house up and it worked great. In a large bowl mix reserved marinade, mustard, vinegar, chopped basil and egg. Blanch green beans and add to the mixture, add orange segments and potatoes when they have finished cooking and toss until incorporated. Serve chicken on a bed of the salad or cut into chunks and toss in the bowl.  

Mini Deep Dish Pizzas

I saw these bad boys on Martha a long time ago and just thought they were too cute! I love anything made in a muffin tin and since I am a self-professed pizza addict these are right up my alley. I have made them for play dates, super bowl parties and just a fun family dinner and they are always a hit. The best part is these little pizzas are the perfect beginning cooking project for little fingers to help out with.  The basic cheese recipe can be adapted by adding your favorite pizza toppings but as long as you follow the other steps you will be good to go!

1 can of pre-made biscuits

Pizza sauce

Shredded pizza cheese

Toppings of choice

Flatten each biscuit out until it doubles in size. Use each biscuit to line the muffin tin making sure the biscuit edge comes out over the top of the ledge. Bake for 5 minutes at the temperature stated on the packaging. Pull the tin out of the oven and poke holes in the bottoms of rising dough using a fork to let the air out. Fill with pizza sauce, cheese and toppings of choice and then continue baking until the crust has a golden brown color (another 5 to 10 minutes based on the packaging instructions.)

Buffalo Chicken Salad Sandwich

I recently hosted a play date for one of my friends who is moving out of town and since she is a wing fanatic I thought I would try out a “ladies lunch” kind of chicken wing so I took a stab at a buffalo chicken salad sandwich. I thought they turned out well with a lot of flavor but I wish that it had not been quite as dry. I am guessing I could have fixed this issue by adding mayonnaise instead of Greek yogurt since the fat content would have been higher but for a “healthy” take on wings it was good.

1 lb chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

2 tbs hot sauce

¼ C blue cheese crumbles

2 stalks of celery, chopped

1 shallot, chopped

½ C greek yogurt

½ Lemon, juiced

Mix hot sauce, cheese, shallot, yogurt and lemon juice together in a large bowl. Add shredded chicken and celery and mix until completely incorporated. Refrigerate until ready to serve. I served mine on croissants or whole wheat wraps with lettuce, tomatoes and a drizzle of the Bolthouse Farms Chunky Blue Cheese Yogurt Dressing which is awesome because it is both low calorie and low carb!

Summer Vegetable Tart

I shared a version of this recipe that Mom Machine makes a while ago. It is one of my favorites and I happened to be planning to make it the next night anyway, so I figured I would share my version of it as well. Always a corner cutter, I hated the fact that I had to bake three separate times so I ended up adapting the process to cut the prep down a bit. I like that it tastes delicious hot or cold and that it is a beautiful way to showcase all those amazing summer vegetables I keep getting in my CSA crate.

 1 Pie crust

2 large tomatoes, sliced

1 large zucchini, sliced

3/4 C part-skim ricotta

½ C chive and garlic cream cheese

1 C fresh basil, chopped

1 tsp dried parsley

S&P

Goat Cheese crumbles

Preheat the oven to 375. Mix the cheese, herbs, S&P together in a small bowl. Roll out the pie crust in a tart or pie pan. Cover the bottom with a layer of the herb and cheese mixture. Cover mixture with a layer of tomatoes and then a layer of zucchini. Sprinkle S&P and then add another layer of cheese, tomatoes and zucchini. Continue this process until the pie crust is filled to the top. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the tart from the oven and sprinkle with goat cheese. Return the dish, uncovered to the oven and cook for 10 more minutes or until the crust is browned, cheese is melted and the vegetables look crisped on the edges.