Chicken & White Bean Enchiladas

With just two more days until Jess & Ben's wedding, the anticipation and excitement in Apt. 3D is through the roof! I've also been baking like a crazy woman today: Firecracker Cookies (bride's pick) for the rehearsal dinner, and my mom's famous Lemon Squares (groom's pick) for the wedding's dessert table. With baking now complete, I've got a few hours of real work to get through before heading out for mani-pedis with the bridesmaids and bride! We'll head down to Princeton bright and early tomorrow morning for venue setup, check into the hotel, and then head to the rehearsal/BBQ at the groom's parents' house.  Hopefully we're able to get some beauty sleep tomorrow night so we're rested up for Saturday's wedding festivities.  Check back Sunday for a wedding recap!

Some might call it lazy, but I call it resourceful – I opted to use store-bought salsa verde instead of making my own for this recipe.  We had just enough salsa verde leftover from the Corn & Goat Cheese Quesadillas, and it just had to be used! After cooking my chicken, I threw it into a bowl, let it cool a little, and then used my hand mixer to shred the chicken.  The hand mixer method is quick and easy, and I don’t think it adds too much time to cleanup, but you’d have to ask KK for verification.  Better yet – this recipe would be perfect for any leftover cooked chicken you have sitting in the fridge! Either bring your leftover chicken to room temperature naturally or nuke it in the microwave for a minute so you don’t end up with cold enchilada filling once they’re cooked! KK thought it would take me awhile to roll each enchilada, but it only took a few minutes.  I eyeballed the filling quantities instead of measuring the filling for each, and ended up with 7 enchiladas.  Since we were out of salsa verde, KK topped his enchiladas with sour cream while I chose to top mine with traditional red salsa.

Chicken & White Bean Enchiladas

Adapted from Skinny Taste

Time: 50 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients

1 Tsp + 1 tsp olive oil
½ lb. chicken breast

1 small onion, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

4.5-oz can chopped green chiles

15.5-oz can cannellini beans

1 chicken bouillon cube

1 tsp cumin

1 cup salsa verde

½ cup light sour cream

¾ cup Mexican blend cheese

6-8 medium-sized tortillas

Additional sour cream, salsa verde or red salsa for topping

Directions

1. Heat 1 Tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.  Cut chicken into large chunks, and cook in the skillet until no longer pink inside.  Set aside to cool in a medium bowl.  When chicken has cooled, shred using two forks.

2. Meanwhile, heat 1 teaspoon olive oil on low in a medium saucepan.  Add onions and garlic; sauté 2-3 minutes or until soft.  Stir in green chiles, beans and their juices, bouillon cube, and cumin.  Cover and simmer on low for 15 minutes.  Remove cover, add shredded chicken and cook an additional 5 minutes, or until liquid boils down.

3. Preheat oven to 375°.

4. In a small bowl, combine salsa verde and sour cream.

5. Using ¼ cup salsa mixture, coat the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish.  Fill each tortilla with ~⅓ cup chicken filling, roll tortilla into an enchilada shape, and place seam-side down in the prepared baking dish.  Continue until all filling is used.

6. Spread remaining salsa mix on top of the enchiladas.  Top with cheese.  Cover with aluminum foil and bake 25 minutes, until cheese has melted and edges begin to crisp.  Serve hot, topped with additional salsa and/or sour cream.