Saturday night was girls night in after a beautiful snowy day, so Alex and I decided to do some cooking.  We researched a few different chicken enchiladas recipes, compared them with what we had in my fridge and decided to make a healthier version, but trust me we didn’t lose out on flavor.  We paired the enchiladas with a side of black beans with onion, fresh cilantro, garlic and lime juice and the product was a tasty sweet and spicy dish!  And we had fun while doing it 🙂

Ingredients: 

• 2 boneless chicken breasts
• 2 tomatillo peppers, papery husks removed, rinsed      

• 1 jalapeno (or more if you like heat)
• 1 jar salsa verde (I purchased this at Trader Joes which was all natural and included basic fresh ingredients I highly recommend it)
• 1 white onion
• 3-4 cloves garlic, chopped fine
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• Kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper
• Fresh chopped cilantro
• 1 Lime and zest
• Tortillas (I used white flour)
• 1 can green chiles (I used  a can of Trader Joe’s fire roasted green chiles)
• Asiago Cheese, Mexican blend cheese
• 1 can black beans
• 2 Tbsp ricotta cheese (I would have preferred to use sour cream, puree avocado or mexican crema but we have to go with what we got– this actually worked really well!)
• Optional: dried cumin and oregano

    

1. Place chicken breasts in a pot of water with salt, pepper, and other seasonings if you have them on hand. I threw in some cumin powder and oregano.  Bring to a light boil and let cook.
2. Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.
3. Chop the onions, tomatillos, garlic and jalapeno.
4. Saute 3/4 of the onion in olive oil until translucent. Add in the tomatillos, 3/4 of the can of green chiles, jalapenos, garlic, 1/3 of the jar of salsa verde, 1/2 of the lime and lime zest. Season with salt & pepper.  Add a dash of cumin.  You want this to cook down on medium to low heat until the onions are sweet and all the flavors meld together.
5. Put strained black beans in small pot with about 1/4 of the onion, fresh chopped cilantro, 1/2 lime juice and lime zest.  Add salt & pepper and let cook so the flavors meld.
6. By now the chicken should be cooked through.  Use two forks (or your hands) to shred it into small shredded pieces.  Put the chicken in a bowl with the ricotta cheese, and the rest of the jar of salsa verde. Add salt & pepper and mix well.
7. Assemble the tortilla with chicken mixture, pepper mixture and top with fresh grated asiago cheese.

       8.  Roll the tortilla up and place seem side down in a casserole dish.  Repeat  until you use up all your fillings.  Spray the enchiladas       using your olive oil misto.  Place in the oven for about 20 minutes or until they start to brown.

       9. Take them out and top with the remaining green chiles with the mexican cheese blend and some more asiago cheese.  Put it back in the oven until the cheese melts.  Top with a sprinkle of fresh cilantro.

Plate with your black beans and enjoy!!