Thanksgiving is this week, and I could not be more excited! In my mind, there’s nothing better than a day full of spending time with family, cooking and eating great food, and drinking wine while celebrating everything you have to be thankful for. I’m feeling warm and snuggly just thinking about it. T-4 days, people!
In all my excitement, I’ve spent the past couple of weeks picking out recipes, poring over anything and everything involving potatoes, pumpkin pie, stuffing, and any sort of vegetables smothered in cream and cheese. I’ve sent my mother an embarrassing amount of emails that involve panicked inquiries about critical issues such as: “MOM! WHAT SIZE ARE OUR PIE PANS? ARE THEY DEEP DISH? SHOULD WE ORDER MORE???” Basically, what I’m trying to say is, Thanksgiving is all up in this brain right now. As it totally should be. But in anticipation of this wonderful day in which my only concern is how many pieces of pumpkin pie I can consume and still manage to travel from the dining table to the couch, I’m kind of trying to balance it out with some cooking that involves less than a few sticks of butter in the meantime. And that’s where these chicken and corn enchiladas come in.
I am all about healthy food, but only if it still tastes really, really good. No matter how many platefuls of stuffing I know I am going to eat in less than a week, boring kale salads and mysterious juices just do not cut it. I need something satisfying, hearty, and yeah, cheesy, okay? These chicken and corn enchiladas are the perfect healthy meal, because you’d never know they’re totally righteous. They’re warm, creamy, and cheesy, with a fantastic homemade enchilada sauce. Veggies are simmered on the stovetop, turned into a sauce, and tossed with shredded chicken. Little whole-wheat enchilada roll-ups are made and assembled in a baking pan. Sauce is poured all up on everything, and then a little cheese joins the party. The whole beautiful mess is baked up for 15 short minutes, and voila! You have a fantastically satisfying, perfectly healthy meal that will take you all the way to Turkey Day without making you feel like you have to stop at one piece of pie on the big day. Because a world in which Thanksgivings do not end in food comas is not a world I want to live in, and I sincerely hope you feel the same way.
P.S. Excuse the crazy lighting in these photos – the sun was literally setting as I was taking the pictures. Don’t you love when it gets dark at 4:15pm?
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 small white onion, diced
- ½ cup corn, fresh or frozen
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
- ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tbsp minced chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (this was about 1.5 peppers for me)
- 1 ½ cups low sodium chicken broth
- ¼ cup water
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 2 cups shredded chicken (I used rotisserie, but you could also cook and shred 2 whole grilled chicken breasts)
- 8 whole-wheat tortillas
- ½ cups grated Muenster Cheese
- Guacamole, hot sauce, salsa, Greek yogurt, or whatever else you want for serving!
- Spray the bottom of a 13x9 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray and set aside. Preheat your oven to 400°F.
- Add 2 tbsp of olive oil to a large skillet that has been heated over medium heat. Add the diced onion and corn and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the minced garlic and cook for one more minute. Add the flour, cumin, and tablespoon of diced chipotle peppers and stir it all together.
- Next, whisk in the chicken broth and the water. Simmer the mixture over medium heat for a few minutes until the sauce has thickened a bit. Add the salt and pepper. Taste and adjust seasonings, if desired. Add one cup of the enchilada sauce to the shredded chicken in a bowl; mix to combine. Then add ¼ cup of the enchilada sauce to the bottom of the baking dish.
- Next, make the enchiladas. Wrap the 8 whole-wheat tortillas in a paper towel and microwave the stack for about 45 seconds, or until heated through. Spoon a little bit of the chicken mixture down each tortilla, slightly offset from center for easier rolling. Roll each tortilla around the chicken mixture, and place them in the baking dish with the seam side down. Pour the rest of the sauce over the enchiladas, spreading with a spoon to make sure the whole top is covered. Sprinkle evenly with the grated Muenster cheese.
- Bake uncovered in the oven for 13-15 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Serve immediately with all of your favorite toppings!
- Adapted from Laurie @ Simply Scratch via HowSweetEats on Tasty Kitchen (http://www.simplyscratch.com/2012/08/lighter-chicken-enchiladas.html)
