Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

Most people have their 10-12 recipes that they repeatedly reproduce throughout the month. We all get a little bored with the same old routine, because once "awesome" dinners have now become too predictable--and we crave a little Epicurean titillation! There are way too many yummy foods out there to have the same thing for dinner every 10-12 nights. But what do you do while you are finding all the new flavors and feasts you want to try?

You can "upcycle" some of the old favorites by adding a few twists to the original recipe. That's exactly what I did last night with the classic Creamy Chicken Enchilada recipe that I've been making for over 11 years.

A sweet neighbor brought my family dinner after I had the twins in July of 2000. There's an instant bond of gratitude when someone prepares a meal for you that they didn't have to. I think that meal tasted even better knowing that someone, not from my family or close group of friends, reached out and showed concern and support in the addition of two newborns to our family. I loved the food and will never forget who it was that first introduced me to this family favorite. I immediately called her and asked for the recipe. Here's what I got: Creamy Chicken Enchiladas--from Michelle Welsh

Sauce:

4 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese
2 cups sour cream
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1-2 cans diced green chilies (depending on your tastes)
Filling:
4 cups cooked/cubed chicken (could be baked chicken breasts, canned, or pieced from a boiled or rotisserie chicken
8 flour tortillas
Extra cheese, olives, green peppers, jalapenos, onions--optional

Cook this down to a smooth sauce over medium heat. Pour half of the sauce into the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish.

Assemble the "enchiladas" by rolling the cooked chicken into the flour tortillas and laying them seam-down on top of the sauce. Pour the remaining sauce over the top. Sprinkle with cheese and bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes. Simple. Full of flavor. Delicious.

**So last night I was craving the rich texture of the enchilada cheese sauce. I've made it so many times that sometimes the kids say "Not again...." But they sit down for dinner anyway. So tonight I switched it up a bit for a little variation in the flavor, but kept the creamy sauce. It was a winner! I made the sauce as usual. But for the filling I added:
1 can black beans--drained
1 can sweet corn--drained

1 can petite diced tomatoes--drained
2 breast portions of Rotisserie chicken (I saved the rest to make a soup)
1 tsp cumin
(fresh chopped cilantro and garlic would have been yummy in the mix as well)

I mixed it all together with a couple of large spoonfuls of the cheese sauce and now had an "upcycled" filling from the old favorite. Coupled with some green beans and fruit--it was a marvelous dinner that made everyone happy! So don't be afraid to take an old, tried and true recipe, and tweak it to suit the occasion. You might just find a new family favorite.