Chicken Enchiladas with Creamy Green Sauce

To make these up to a day ahead, prep and assemble the enchiladas (steps 1 to 3); cover and refrigerate. Go to step 4 when you're ready to bake and serve.    Before filling, soften the corn tortillas by stacking them between damp paper towels and heating for a minute in the microwave. This makes them more pliable and prevents tearing.

If you want to save time you can buy a cooked rotisserie chicken to use instead.

Yield: Serves 6

Prep Time: 1 hour

Cooking Time: 55 minutes

Ingredients:

  ● 3 lb. bone-in, skin-on chicken breast halves 

  ● Coarse salt and ground pepper

  ● 5 garlic cloves, unpeeled 

  ● 2 jars (16 ounces each) medium green salsa

  ● 3/4 cup heavy cream

  ● 12 corn tortillas (6-inch)

  ● 12 oz. Monterey Jack cheese, coarsely shredded (3 cups) 

  ● 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped (optional) 

Directions:

 1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Season chicken with salt and pepper; place with garlic on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until an instant-read thermometer inserted in thickest part of breast (avoiding bone) registers 165 degrees, 25 to 30 minutes. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine salsa and cream.

 2. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees. Once chicken is cool enough to handle, shred meat, discarding skin and bones. Peel and chop garlic. In a large bowl, combine chicken, garlic, and 1/2 cup salsa mixture.

 3. Stack tortillas flat, and wrap in damp paper towels; microwave on high for 1 minute to soften. Working with one tortilla at a time, dip in salsa mixture, lay flat, and fill with 1/3 cup chicken mixture. Roll up and arrange, seam side down, 8 enchiladas lengthwise and 4 crosswise in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Top with remaining salsa mixture, then cheese.

 4. Bake until cheese is browned and salsa is bubbling, 40 to 45 minutes; let rest 10 minutes. Serve, sprinkled with cilantro, if desired.

Tandoori-Style Chicken

3 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs (breasts get too dry)
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
1 garlic clove
¾ cup plain yogurt
1 Tablespoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 teaspoon fine sea salt

With a sharp knife make several deep parallel cuts into the chicken about ¾ inch apart in each piece of meat, cutting against the grain.

Put chicken pieces into a deep plate or Tupperware and sprinkle with the lemon juice. Let stand 15 minutes, turning each piece two or three times.

Meanwhile press the garlic into a small mixing bowl. Add yogurt and all the spices and stir together. Pour this mixture over the chicken and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours, turning two to three times.

About an hour before serving time, remove chicken from refrigerator. Transfer the chicken pieces from marinade to a broiler pan lined with aluminum foil. (Or place directly on oven rack and line a baking sheet with foil and position under meat to catch drippings.) Spoon remaining marinade onto chicken pieces. Preheat oven to 500 degrees F (250 degrees C) for 15 minutes. Cook chicken for 20 minutes at 500 degrees and serve hot over rice.

Coconut Curry Chicken

This one is for Jonathan and Debra (even though Debra hasn't tried it yet.)
Shannon, this is one I definitely would not say was easy. But it is worth it!

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts,
cut into 1 in pieces
Approx 1/4 cup oil (canola or olive or mix)
1 tsp black mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp ground coriander
2 TLBs curry powder (half hot if desired)
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
1 1/2 TLBs chopped or grated ginger
3 garlic cloves
1 14oz can of coconut milk
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup el dente cooked carrots
2 TLBs chopped cilantro (dania)
1/4 cup unsalted whole cashews for garnish

Lightly salt chicken. In stockpot heat 3 TBL oil until smoking. Cook chicken over moderately high heat until golden brown about 1 1/2 minutes per side. Transfer chicken to plate.
Reduce heat to moderate. Add remaining oil, heat until smoking, cook mustard seed about 1 minute or until they stop popping. Add cumin seeds, coriander, and curry. Cook, stirring a little until fragrant or about 1 minute.
Add a little more oil if needed. Add onion, ginger and garlic. Cook until onion softens, about 10 minutes. Add up to 1/4 cup water to keep it from sticking if needed.
Stir in coconut milk and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Return chicken to pot and simmer until cooked through, about 5 minutes. Stir in peas and drained cooked carrots, cook 1 minute. Transfer to bowl, sprinkle with cashews and cilantro and serve with basmati rice. Makes four servings.

Chicken Salsa Chili

Shannon claims I say that every recipe is easy. This one truely is, it's mostly opening cans and pouring it all in.

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup course chopped onion
2 fresh garlic cloves, minced
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 cans Mexican tomatoes (Rotel brand)
1 can garbanzo beans (chick peas), drained
1 can light red kidney beans, drained
½ cup picante sauce (I used medium. You can use whatever you like.)
1 tsp cumin (I use more like a Tablespoon)
1 tsp chili powder
½ tsp salt
Optional: one jalapeno pepper.

In a large fry pan or directly in soup pot, over medium heat warm oil.
Add chicken, onion, and garlic.
Sautee 5-7 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink.
Add remaining ingredients and simmer 20 minutes.
Serve over steamed rice.

Garnish with: grated cheese, sour cream, chopped onions, avocado, chips and/or cilantro.

I modified from Café Latte.

Chicken Rice Broccoli in the Crockpot

4 frozen chicken breasts
1cup of uncooked brown rice
1can cream of mushroom soup
2 cups frozen broccoli florets
2 cups shredded cheese
Season to taste with Montreal Chicken Seasoning or your own favorite chicken seasoning.

This old favorite casserole just got EASIER by far and lets the kitchen stay cool! Yesterday around 3:00pm I put 2cups of water, a cup of rice, and 4 FROZEN ckn breasts that I sprinkled with Montreal Chicken Seasoning in the crock-pot on high. About 5:30 pm I used my kitchen shears to cut the chicken into bite size pieces and stirred in a can of cream of mushroom soup. I put some frozen broccoli in a dish with a bit of water and steamed that for 4mins in the microwave. I added the broccoli and about 2 cups of shredded cheese to the crock-pot dish and stirred again. Ta-Dah! It was done with practically no trouble and very little heating up the kitchen!