Dear Diary Lighter Enchiladas minus the granola topping

Chicken Spinach Enchiladas

Serves 8 or 1 Jonathan

You see I love queso!!!

Ingredients

1lb Chicken Breasts
4 cups of baby spinach or thawed 10 oz box of spinach
1 cup of Quesadilla cheese or low fat Monterrey Jack cheese shredded
16 corn tortillas (yellow or white whatever your preference)
2 1/2 cups of tomatillo salsa or favorite green salsa jar (recipe follows)*
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  To make this recipe lighter I poached the chicken breast in a large saucepan in one inch of water and seasoned water with cumin and chili powder.  To poach bring salted water to a boil and place chicken in water, cover and let it cook for about 5 minutes over medium heat, then turn off heat and let it finish cooking for about 12-14 more minutes (it works!).  I got this idea from Martha Stewart, I am not going to lie.  Then take out chicken breasts and shred it with two forks or you can be lazy and chop it up in a food processor but don't over process!  Then place shredded chicken in a large mixing bowl and add spinach (trust me fresh spinach will wilt when you cook the enchiladas!)  Then add 1/2 cup of tomatillo sauce to the bowl and mix.  You can microwave the tortillas, wrapped in a paper towel,  in 30 second intervals until pliable to work with.  I heated the tortillas on the comal (a mexi-griddle) and liked that way better.  Normally you fry the tortillas in hot oil buuuuuuuut this is a lighter version so no deep frying Paula Deen style here!  Then you put some chicken spinach mixture in a tortilla and roll up tightly and place in a 9x13 baking dish and repeat until there is no more tortillas.  Then you pour remaining two cups of tomatillo sauce over the enchiladas and then sprinkle cheese over the enchiladas, you can omit the cheese for my lactose intolerant friends (such as myself) because the sauce is just as good by itself.  Then bake enchiladas for 30 minutes when cheese becomes golden and bubbly.
Ways I lightened this up, poached the chicken, then microwaved the tortillas and used way less cheese then I normally do!  Seriously cheese may not like me but I love it so I normally would do about 4 cups worth!

For those who want a vegetarian version, obviously omit chicken and I would saute the fresh or thawed spinach with onion and garlic and 8 oz of sliced mushrooms in large skillet with 1 tbsp of olive oil and then use that as my filling it is delicious!

Tomatillo Salsa

1-2lb tomatillos (hulled and cleaned and chopped in half)
1 poblano pepper (keep whole)
2 jalapeno peppers (keep whole)
1 serrano pepper (keep whole)
1/2 cup cilantro
3 cloves of garlic (take off skins)
1/2 onion chopped in chunks
1/4 cup of lime juice
1 tsp cumin
salt to taste ( I use about 1 tbsp)
2 tbsp of olive oil


Preheat oven to 400.  In a large mixing bowl combine tomatillos, jalapeno, serrano, poblano, onion and garlic and pour olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Mix until lightly coated.  Then on a large baking sheet covered in foil pour out the contents of the bowl.  Roast for about 20-25 minutes until you start to see the poblano pepper skin start to blister.  Remove from oven.  Chop up jalapeno and serrano.  Place the  poblano pepper in a plastic zip bag until it sweats this makes the skin easier to remove.  Then remove the skin and take out the seeds and rough chop poblano.  Place every thing in a blender and add cilantro, salt, cumin and lime juice.  Then blend until smooth.  Should yield about 3-4 cups depending.  If you want the sauce to be mild use more tomatillos and I would cut out the serrano and only use one jalapeno.  It is delicious as a salsa by itself!  Also another option is to add 1/2 cup of non fat sour cream to the tomatillo sauce just mix together and makes a creamy sauce ( I would add it when you are about to blend the ingredients).

I hope you enjoyed my recipe, my next goal is to make a lighter spanish rice, wish me luck on that I doubt I will touch that it is a prized family recipe!

PS. See Ken Smith I decided to forgo the granola topping!