Terre Pruitt's Blog

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Posts Tagged ‘easy dinner’

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Enchilada Chicken

Posted by terrepruitt on August 12, 2019

If you have read my blog or seen any of my tweets within the last month or so you know that I made Taco Pie again. Oh my I love it, and this last time with the flour tortillas, I really loved it. When I make it I cannot find the size of enchilada sauce I need so I end up with a lot of leftover sauce. The time before last, the unused sauce sat in my refrigerator until it went bad because I didn’t know what to do with it. This time I was determined to use it and thought I could use it with chicken like I do with other sauces.

This is just chicken baked in the left over enchilada sauce. It was very good. I can see this dish following Taco Pie every time now.  I will be using up that extra enchilada sauce. YUM.

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Enchilada Chicken

~Four boneless skinless chicken breast
~Taco Seasoning (click for homemade recipe)
~20 ounces (or so) of Enchilada sauce
~about 2-3 cups shredded cheese (I used the 4 Cheese Mexican mix)
~Cilantro

~Rice (optional)

Place the chicken in a baking dish. Sprinkle half of the Taco Seasoning over the chicken. Let it set for an hour or two (in the refrigerator). Then flip over each piece and sprinkle the rest of seasoning over the chicken. Let it set for an hour or two (in the refrigerator).

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Pour the enchilada sauce over the chicken, sprinkle in some chopped cilantro, then top it with the shredded cheese. Bake. I baked this about 50 minutes . . . depending on the size of the chicken breasts . . . bake the chicken until thoroughly cooked.

Then serve over rice . . . or in tortillas, or on its own . . . topping it with chopped cilantro.

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Easy. Yummy. A great way for me to use the left over enchilada sauce.  I know this is just a different take on both Italian Chicken and Chicken Salsa.  Pouring sauces over chicken and baking, it is so easy and so many different types of sauces gives us such a variety of flavors!

What do you think? Don’t you love easy recipes?

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Artichoke Chicken and Chickpea Pasta

Posted by terrepruitt on April 2, 2018

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit, SJCityFitI have been out of town the last two weekends.  So our fridge is looking pretty bare.  I didn’t know what to cook for dinner tonight.  I didn’t want to go out to get something from the store.  I was thinking I could use chicken and add it to rice or pasta.  I was thinking I had a jar of sauce, but when I looked in the pantry I didn’t see one.  But I did see a jar of artichoke hearts.  I was thinking I would add them to the chicken.  Then I thought I would also use a can of chickpeas.  I love the richness that chickpeas adds.  So sometimes out of necessity you come up with an easy recipe of things you have on hand.

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Artichoke Chicken and Chickpea Pasta

1 can of chickpeas/garbanzo beans
1 can of chicken
1 1/2 cups chopped artichoke hearts
3/4 teaspoon Nutritional yeast
Salt
Pepper
Garlic salt
Cheese*
Butter
Pasta

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Drain the chicken, then add it to the pan.  Sprinkle the chicken with garlic salt. Stir up the mixture and cook the chicken a bit.  Canned chicken is already cooked so it doesn’t need that long in the pan, or that high of a heat.  At this point I turned the heat down.

Add the chopped artichoke hearts.  Cook everything until it is hot.

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Once the pasta is cooked to your liking, drain it, then put it on a plate with some butter.  Sprinkle 3/4 of a teaspoon of Nutritional yeast on the pasta.  Then put the chicken mixture on top of the pasta.  Add pepper if you would like and more garlic salt if you feel it needs it.  Grate a small amount of cheese on top.

*I would have liked to have used Parmesan, but all I had was a Cheddar Monterey Jack blend.

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I think this was pretty good.  It is very rich with the beans and the artichokes.  It is super easy.  It was nice because the artichokes gave it a flavor that we don’t always have.  So it was a bit different for us.  I really liked it.

I was going to add some Kalamata olives, but I decided not to.  What do you think?  What kind of pasta would you use?  Now what do I do with the rest of the jar of artichoke hearts?

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An Easy Yummy Recipe: Taco Pie

Posted by terrepruitt on February 21, 2018

One of my yoga students gave me a recipe. The title sounded good and as I started reading the ingredients I was thinking it sounded good until I got to the cream of mushroom soup. It just sounded really odd to me to add cream of mushroom soup with the other ingredients. I told her that, but she assured me that it was really good. She said that the dish is a hit whenever she takes it somewhere. She said everyone likes it when she makes it. So, I trusted her. And decided to try it.  I am always looking for new recipes to try that are easy. This one looked really easy. It doesn’t have that many ingredients and it had the potential to turn into a staple. So I tried her recipe to Taco Pie.

Since I so often use my blog as my recipe book I am documenting this recipe with some of the changes I made and how I will make it in the future. I will explain below the changes I have (or will make) and why below the recipe.

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Taco Pie

1 Tablespoon coconut oil
1/4 of an onion
1 lb ground turkey or ground beef
salt
garlic powder
cumin
12 ounces enchilada sauce
1 bottle taco sauce
20 ounces cream of mushroom soup
1 dozen corn tortillas
2 to 4 cups grated Monterey Jack Cheese (or Mexican Cheese)
1 can sliced black olives

Preheat oven to 325° F.

Heat the oil in a large pan. Chop the onion, then add the onion to the pan. Cook until translucent. Add the meat (crumbling it as you cook it or crumble it into the pan). Salt the meat as you cook it. Sprinkle the meat with garlic powder and some cumin. Not a lot (that is why I didn’t even put a measurement), you are just adding a tad bit of flavoring to help layer the flavors, but you still want the sauce mixture to be the star. Cook the meat until it is about half done.

Add the enchilada sauce, the taco sauces, and the cream of mushroom soup. Stir until it is all mixed together with the meat. Bring to a boil. Then let simmer over medium heat for about 10 to 15 minutes. Let the sauce flavor the meat.

In a 9X13 baking dish you are going to do layers. First layer is 1/3 of the sauce, then a layer of sprinkled of cheese, the next layer is 6 tortillas to cover the sauce. Then 1/3 of the sauce, a layer of sprinkled of cheese, then six tortillas. Then use the rest of the sauce to cover the tortillas, then cover it with the cheese.

Bake for 30 minutes. Let it sit for 5 minutes before serving. Top with the sliced olives. (If you want the olives cooked then put them on top of the “pie” before baking.)

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I have written before about how I don’t really care for the taste of plain meat. Plain meat to me, is just really not appetizing. So, when I made this recipe I cooked the turkey with chopped onions, as I stated in the recipe. It still was not enough for me. I like layered (or what I call layered) flavors. And to me, the plain meat just tasted plain. It stood out from the sauce. I like everything to meld together. So, the next time I make this I am going to add the spices as I have stated in the recipe.

The original recipe called for two cans of cream of mushroom soup, I used two boxes. That is a difference of four ounces. I did reduce the amount of enchilada sauce by two ounces, but it was still very soupy. All of the meat and sauce leaked out from between the layers and I was just left with stacked tortillas and the sauce on the side. So, next time I am going to reduce the liquids as stated here in the recipe. Not that much, but perhaps with the increased cooking time on the stove top this will help reduce the amount of liquid.

This was really good. As I type it up I am wanting to make it again. Thanks, Judy for this recipe!  And as with any recipe it is fun to add and subtract and make it your own. I thought of adding mushrooms – because I love mushrooms – and/or chilies, but I really love the simplicity of this recipe so I doubt I will be adding much to complicate it, but that doesn’t mean you don’t want to fancy it up.

How does this sound to you? What will you add to it to make it your own?

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Leftover Persimmon Chicken

Posted by terrepruitt on November 23, 2016

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit, SJCityFitWith all that is going on I mentioned I might not be writing regularly, but I am going to try.  This might be considered a cheat because it is not an actual recipe.  But that is really how I cook anyway.  If you have read any of my blog posts that have recipes in them you probably know that I love leftovers.  Recently I made Persimmon Chicken.  We had it for a few days.  There was enough for us to have a piece of chicken for a couple of nights.  But the third night there was that odd piece left.  Whenever I have an odd piece of meat that is usually when I throw it in pasta, in a tortilla, or on a tortilla.  Well, I didn’t know how persimmon chicken would taste on a tortilla.  But then I thought, “Why wouldn’t it work?”  Well, I have to say, it worked and it was delicious!  The sweet of the persimmons with the saltiness of the cheese – very good!

You might remember that I went to a restaurant once and they served what I call Fancy Toast.  I was thinking of that when I put together our persimmon chicken tortillas.  Sweet and salty!

I had some leftover ricotta from the lasagna I recently made (that recipe is here).  I decided to use it.  I am always looking for ways to use what I have and not let things I used for one recipe go to waste. Here is what I did.

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Persimmon Chicken Tortilla

2 Flour Tortillas
1 cup of ricotta
1 cup of mozzarella
1 large piece of persimmon chicken
some of the persimmons that were cooked with the chicken
3 tablespoons of gorgonzola

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Then bake it in the oven for about 20 minutes.  You are really only trying to melt the cheese, as the chicken is already cooked.  If you like your tortilla a little crisper, then bake it for longer.

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As happens more often than not, I was not planning on posting this on my blog.  And I didn’t take a picture of the preparation . . . but I think it is simple enough you can get the idea.  In the pictures I did take you can see the gorgonzola.

The salty blue cheese and the spiced fruit were a great combination.  The ricotta being somewhat flavorless just added great texture – a perfect creaminess.

It was really good.  Next time I make persimmon chicken I am going to make sure I have enough leftover to do this.  Plus I will make sure I have mozzarella, ricotta, and gorgonzola on hand.  Although a mild cheddar might due in place of the mozzarella.

What do you think?  Sound good to you?  What could we add to make it even better?

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Leek And Mushroom Topped Flat-Biscuit-Shortbread

Posted by terrepruitt on November 7, 2016

I save recipes to my computer all the time.  I have hundreds and hundreds of recipes.  Every once in a while I go through the various folders and see recipes I want to try.  I might even put the recipe on my desktop so it is in my face and on my mind . . . in hopes that I will actually try it.  Sometimes I do.  Sometimes I don’t.  I had found a recipe the blogger called flatbread and it sounded delicious so I saved it to my desktop.  While I was at the store I remembered I had a leek in the refrigerator and I thought mushrooms and leeks on top of the flat bread would be good.  I couldn’t remember what the recipe called for, so I bought the mushrooms.  Here is what I ended up doing.  It was good.  The toppings of leeks and mushrooms gave it a lot of flavor.  However, I just need salt in my food otherwise it is bland.  So even with the toppings having sufficient amount of salt the bread was too bland for me.  I am sure for regular people who don’t require so much salt it would be fine.  My hubby loved it.  It also didn’t taste nor have the texture of the flat bread I am used to.  It was more like a biscuit.  Or a shortbread.  That is probably due to the baking powder.  OR it could have been due to the fact that I read 1/2 cup olive oil and the recipe called for 1/3 cup.  Anyway, since my husband loved it, I will be doing it again.  My toppings will probably change.  And I will definitely add salt to the dough!  And I might even try it with the less oil.

I have noted the changes I will make next time in italics.

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Leek And Mushroom Topped Flat-Biscuit-Shortbread

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• 1 1/2 cups + 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon cornmeal
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon basil
salt

Leek and Mushroom mixture topping
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 1 leek
• 3/4 pound mushrooms
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme
• a sprinkle over the whole pan of ground ginger
• 1/2 – 1 tablespoon of butter
• pepper

After washing the leek, chop the leek into small pieces.  After washing the mushrooms, slice them.  Heat the coconut oil.  Add the leeks to the pan and cook them.  When the green portion becomes a bright green and the white portion starts to lose its color, add the mushrooms.  Sprinkle the mixture with the garlic salt, thyme, and ginger.  Keep stirring and cooking.  When the mushrooms and leeks are almost done being cooked to your liking add the butter.  Stir well, so the flavor of the butter gets incorporated into the mix.

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Combine the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, garlic powder, and basil in a bowl.  Stir until ingredients are well mixed.  Add olive oil and water mixing until all the ingredients are incorporated and it forms a smooth dough. Form the dough into a ball or a log – something to get you started into the final shape you want.  Place the dough onto a piece of parchment paper large enough to fit the pan you are going to bake it on.  Then roll out the dough until it’s about 1/4 inch thick in the shape you want. Lift the parchment paper with the dough on it and place it on your baking sheet. Brush or pat a little bit of olive oil on the top of the dough.

Bake it in the oven at 400° F for 12 minutes until the top starts to turn brown.

Remove the flat-biscuit-shortbread and top with three table spoons of ricotta cheese and a sprinkle of salt.  Then place back in the oven for three minutes.

Spread the cooked leek mushroom mixture on top of the crust.  Then sprinkle 3 teaspoons of gorgonzola on top of the mixture. Bake for an additional 5 minutes at 350° F.

Cut, sprinkle with pepper (if you want) and serve.

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My husband and I ate this for dinner one night.  It is very rich and quite filling.  Do pop over and check out Andrea’s blog and see her recipe of Roasted Maple Butternut Squash Bacon Flatbread which inspired my leek and mushroom topped shorty-bready-biscuit.

Are you going to top yours with leeks and mushrooms or something else?

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Chicken, Broccoli, and Cheese Casserole

Posted by terrepruitt on October 5, 2016

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, Nia Technique, SJ City Fit, SJCityFitSo I wanted something easy to cook the other night and I thought it would be nice if I could use the broccoli that came in our latest produce delivery.  So what is easier than a casserole?  Not much.  So why not a chicken, broccoli, and cheese casserole!  So here is what I did, completely easy!
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Chicken, Broccoli, and Cheese Casserole 

1 1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup flour
2 cans of chicken
1/4 of an onion
3 cups of chopped broccoli
1 tsp garlic salt
a couple of twists of pepper
1/2 of a bell pepper
2 1/4 cup shredded cheese
3 tablespoons butter
3/8 cup panko bread crumbs

Preheat the oven to 425° F.

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Grease a casserole dish (I used a 8 inch X 11 inch), then pour or scoop the mixture into the dish.

Melt the butter and mix it with the panko bread crumbs.  Then mix in the rest (1/4 cup) of the shredded cheese.

Sprinkle the butter, bread, cheese mixture over the chicken, broccoli, and cheese mixture.

Then put the casserole dish in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.

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While some people might cringe at using canned chicken, I don’t.  A long time ago my father-in-law made a yummy casserole and when he said he used canned chicken, I thought, “Well, it was damn good.”  Now the brand you buy makes a big difference.  We buy the Cocsto brand.  Kirkland Signature™ Premium Chunk Chicken Breast.  It is just big chunks of meat.  We bought Swanson’s before and I think I ended up throwing it out.  It was . . . . not big chunks of white meat.  So I don’t trust any other kind.

I am sure that three cups of cut up cooked chicken will work.  But if you want to keep it really easy . . . use two cans.

Oh, I just had a thought, I might not be able to get my husband to go along, but crusty french bread.  This would be really good with crusty french bread.  Yum.  My hubby is not a french bread fan so I don’t usually think to serve things with bread, but this would be perfect with bread.

What do you think?  Sound easy enough?  What would YOU serve it with?

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Meat Topped Polenta Rounds

Posted by terrepruitt on November 14, 2015

So I had an idea to make another dinner with polenta but it was kinda like the last thing I made with polenta, but I was hoping it would be different enough I could add it to the list of things to make.  But it actually turned out to be almost exactly like the Turkey And Polenta Bake I had made.  The polenta I buy is in a tube, like a roll of sausage,  But it is hard, not mushy.  I was still thinking I could roll it out so that I could put the rolled out rounds of polenta in muffin pans then fill ’em.  But the polenta did not flatten when I tried to roll it out, it just started breaking up.  So, I ended up just putting the sliced rounds in the bottom of the muffin cups.

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Olive oil
1 leek
9 mushrooms
1 tsp garlic
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cardamom
3/4 tsp cumin
3/4 tsp thyme
1 tube of polenta
1 lb beef
2 cups shredded cheese
(green onions and sour cream)

Chop the leek and slice the mushrooms, then cook the leek for a few minutes in the olive oil over medium heat.  Then add the sliced mushrooms to the pan, add half the garlic and half the salt – reserving the rest for later (when you add the meat).  Continue to cook and stir, then add the rest of the spices.

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Back to the mushrooms.  Cook the mushrooms until they are almost done – you decide how done you want them – then add the meat to the pan.  Cook the meat a bit, then add the rest of the garlic and salt.  Cook the meat until it is pretty much done, but don’t overcook it because it has to be in the oven a bit still.

Once the meat is cooked to your satisfaction, put a tiny bit of cheese on the polenta, then fill the muffin cups (on top of the polenta) with the meat veggie mixture.  Top each meat filled cup with cheese, then bake for 10 to 20 minutes.

After the cheese is melted and everything is cooked to your satisfaction, just pop the meat topped polenta rounds onto a plate to serve.  (I forgot to take a picture of this part.)

You can top them with sour cream and green onions.  I forgot to buy one (sour cream) and I forgot to use the other (green onions).

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This was good, but it was not what I had planned and it was so much like my other dish I almost didn’t post about it.  I liked it better though because the polenta was “crispy” and that is what I had wanted in the other recipe.  This one was also good because it was different flavors than “taco flavor”.

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, PiYo, Nia TechniqueMy plan – aside from rolling out the polenta, was to use corn and peppers, but we received two leeks in our produce box and I need to start using the produce right away, so I decided to use the leek instead.  I didn’t think there would be enough room in the muffins cups to hold meat, mushrooms, leek, corn, and peppers.  Perhaps next time I’ll do the corn and peppers sans leeks.

My plan was also to start cooking earlier and take pictures of every thing, ingredients, and each step, but I started late and was on the phone while I was cooking so I almost forgot about the pictures.

So what would you put on your polenta rounds?

 

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Our Version Of Taco Salad

Posted by terrepruitt on May 26, 2015

What do you put in your taco salad?  Do you eat taco salad?  Taco salad is one of my favorite meals.  It is probably one of my favorite meals for several reasons.  One reason is it is raw veggies and meat with tortilla chips, that is just a winning combination to me.  Another reason is when we have it, it usually translates into at least two meals — you know I love leftovers.  And another reason is, usually when we have it my husband has made it.  I had taco salad with my friends once and they laughed at me because the only thing “taco” about my taco salad is the tortilla chips and the “taco seasoning” in the meat.  Since I was the one that started making the taco salad in our relationship I have “infected” my husband with my idea of or the way I make taco salad.  We do it a little different.

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1 lb Ground Turkey
1 package of taco seasoning
tortilla chips
lettuce
shredded cheese
olives
onions
pickles
bell peppers
cucumbers
broccoli
carrots
sour cream
salsa

Cook the meat with the seasoning.  You can use the directions on the package or not.  I don’t, I saute some onions then add the meat.  While the meat is cooking I put in the seasoning.  My hubby follows the directions on the package.  Whatever works for you.

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia in the City of San Jose, Nia at the San Jose Community Centers, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex City of San Jose, San Jose Group Ex classes, YMCA, Zumba, PiYoThe lettuce is chopped or the kind from a bag.  The olives are chopped or sliced, either by you or that is the way you bought them.  The onions . . . I like red, but whatever color will do, even scallions.  Whatever they are they are chopped.

Pickles are chopped.  So are the bell peppers, cucumbers, broccoli, and carrots.

Then you just layer it in your individual bowl.  My husband and I do ours individually since we both like different things in our salads.  We also do our layers differently.  Then he adds salsa and sour cream.  I don’t add any of that.  We both crumble our tortilla chips on top.  One time I forgot them.  I remembered them after I was half way through eating my salad.

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As you can see there are no beans.  I don’t like beans, so I have never put beans in my “taco salad”.  And, like I said, since I have always made it like that my poor husband doesn’t get beans in his salad.  I don’t know if he would like them, but we don’t think to get them.  Also, I believe pickles are a weird ingredient for a taco salad.  I cannot tell you how that started.  It might sound odd, but it works really well . . . I think.  For me it is a MUST, the pickles are a source of moisture for my salad since I don’t add any dressing, salsa, or sour cream.

I believe we have had tomatoes in our taco salad before.  Basically any veggie that we would put in a salad we could add to our taco salad.  The first nine ingredients on the list are the “must-haves”.

Do you eat taco salad?  What do you put in your taco salad?

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Easy Peasy Chicken Enchiladas With Sour Cream Sauce

Posted by terrepruitt on September 20, 2014

My niece came to visit us recently over the weekend. I thought it would be nice to serve something for dinner that I don’t make often. Even though she doesn’t eat with us often, so something we eat all the time wouldn’t necessarily be something she eats all the time, I thought I would try something new. Well, I had done it before but I don’t remember the recipe I used before, so I was kinda making it up as I went along. Big surprise, huh? Well, I decided to make chicken enchiladas with sour cream sauce. I don’t really like red sauce and green sauce does not like me. I like sour cream sauce.

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Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Zumba, PiYo, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex City of San Jose, San Jose Group Ex classesChicken Enchiladas With Sour Cream Sauce

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons butter / 3
4 tablespoons flour / 3
3 cups chicken broth / 2
1 1/2 cup sour cream / 1
1/2  4 oz can diced green chillies
(this makes EXTRA sauce, the / number is the amount to us if you want less sauce)

3 cups shredded and cooked chicken (I actually used canned chicken)
3 cups shredded Mexican Mixture cheese
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 garlic salt
7 large soft flour tortillas

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Melt the butter in a pan over medium heat. Stir the flour into butter. Whisk it to get all the lumps out. Watch the heat making sure it does not get too hot. Whisk in the broth. Continue to cook the sauce until it’s thick and begins to bubble. Turn off the heat/burner.

Mix the chicken with the cumin and garlic salt. Put about three tablespoons of chicken in a tortilla, sprinkle in some cheese then roll up and put seam side down into a greased casserole dish. Continue filling and rolling the tortillas until they are all filled. Using about two cups of the cheese.

By now, the sauce should be cool enough so the sour cream will not curdle when added, but still warm enough to allow the sour cream to “melt” and blend well into the sauce. Add the sour cream to the sauce. Whisk until blended. Add the chilies to the sauce.

Pour the sauce over enchiladas. Filling in all the space. Use the remaining cup of cheese to sprinkle over the enchiladas. Save the remaining sauce for allowing individuals to add more sauce to their enchiladas.

Bake in oven for about 30 minutes.

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Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Zumba, PiYo, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex City of San Jose, San Jose Group Ex classesSo my hubby likes extra sauce and leftover sauce, so I made extra. You can make less by using the number after the slash. You can also use more chilies. I brought the remainder to the table so that my hubby and niece could add more to their food.

I think next time I will add the chilies into the enchiladas. I will mark them so I know which ones have the chilies.

You can use any type of chicken you would like. I just wanted really easy so I used canned.

So this is easy and kind of quick. And I thought it was very yummy. I will be making it again. It made enough for leftovers. You know I love leftovers.

Do you like enchiladas? Are you a fan of sour cream sauce?  Does this sound like a recipe you would make?

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Bruschetta Pasta

Posted by terrepruitt on August 5, 2014

You may have read my post regarding how much I loved Dinner of Herbs eggplant bruschetta recipe. I said I could put the eggplant mixture on anything. Well, I actually bought the ingredients to make the bruschetta, I even remembered the bread! But when I arrived at home I looked in my refrigerator and realized I had some zucchini I needed to use. Plus I had some mushrooms I needed to use. So I decided this would be a great time to put the eggplant and tomato mixture with a little extra over pasta. So I am just adding zucchini and mushrooms to the way I made the bruschetta.  Here is what I made:

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Ingredients:

–1 medium or large eggplant, cubed (very small)
–4 medium sized tomatoes, cubed
–1 lb of mushrooms, sliced or coarsely chopped
–2 zucchinis, grated
–3/4 of a large onion, chopped (tiny)
—olive oil
—two tablespoons of butter
—garlic powder
—onion powder
—salt
—pepper
—sweet basil
—balsamic vinegar
—Parmesan cheese, as desired
—1 package/box/container of pasta (I prefer linguine)

Heat the oven to 450°F.

Put the eggplant on a baking sheet. (I used parchment paper on the baking sheet.) Drizzle with olive oil. Mix it up, then spread the eggplant evenly, in one layer (the eggplant I used was too large to be one layer), over the baking sheet. After baking for about 10 minutes, move the eggplant around on the pan.  After another 10 minutes, gently stir/toss the eggplant and sprinkle with garlic salt. Bake for about an additional 25 minutes. Stirring or tossing if necessary to ensure even roasting. In between roasting the eggplant, spread 3/4 of the tomato out over a baking sheet. (I used parchment paper on the baking sheet.) Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic powder and onion powder. (Tomatoes are too delicate to be mixed as done with the eggplant.) Bake until the edge pieces are browning.  Stirring gently, if you want.  I ended up cooking the tomatoes for about 30 minutes.

Somewhere in between cooking the mushrooms and zucchini as instructed below, you might want to cook your pasta. I prefer my pasta hot. You can plan and cook accordingly.

Dance Exercise, Nia, Nia at the City of San Jose, Nia classes in the South Bay, Nia Teacher, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Nia workout, Nia, Zumba, PiYo, Gentle Yoga, Group Ex City of San Jose, San Jose Group Ex classesWhile the other vegetables are baking, heat some olive oil and 1/2 the chopped onion in a pan. Add the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper as desired (I use garlic salt) and cook to your liking (I like them a little caramelized). Remove from pan and set the mushrooms aside. Add two tablespoons of butter to the pan. Once the butter is melted add the grated zucchini. Cook the zucchini about 10 minutes on medium heat.

Once all the veggies are cooked to your satisfaction put half of the cooked and drained pasta in a large bowl, then add half of all of the cooked vegetables.  Add the basil, vinegar, any additional salt and/or pepper you desire.  Then add the rest of the pasta and cooked vegetables along with half of the raw tomato and onion.  Toss it all.  Taste it to see if you want more basil, vinegar, salt and/or pepper.  Put the rest of the raw tomato and onion on top. Serve the pasta sprinkled with Parmesan cheese.

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This is the first recipe I wrote FIRST, then followed.  I made a few adjustments to the recipe as I was cooking, and noted them before posting.  I think layering the pasta, then veggies makes for easier mixing.  Of course, you can mix it anyway you’d like.  I loved this.  I loved the flavor as I did when I made the eggplant bruschetta.  What I would do next time is use 3 tomatoes instead of four.  The flavor of the tomatoes overpowered everything.  I am looking forward to having the leftovers, as I believe left over pasta is often better than the freshly made dish.  The flavors have time to meld.

This is an easy dish, there is nothing complicated about any part of the process, but with all of the chopping it is a bit labor intensive.  The separate roasting of the eggplant and tomatoes makes it a long process.  I didn’t want to roast them at the same time.  But if you chop while things are cooking . . . . .

I will probably make it again.

What about you?  Does it sound good?  Which of the vegetables is your favorite? 

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