Ingredients
- About 20 (6-inch) corn tortillas Vegetable oil
- 1 cup green olives with pimentos, sliced
- 1 pound Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
- Shredded chicken from 1 or 2 breasts (depending if you want to add a lot of vegetables)
- Chopped cilantro for garnish (optional)
- 2 to 4 cups or so cooked vegetables (sauteed onions, shredded carrots, spinach, mushrooms, roasted peppers, winter squash, beans, corn, etc.—about 4 cups total if making all vegetarian, about 2 cups if mixing with chicken or other meat.)
- 1 whole chicken breast, split
- ½ onion, sliced
- 1 carrot, coarsely chopped
- 1 rib celery, coarsely chopped
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Freshly ground pepper
Preparation
• Heat 1 tablespoon oil in skillet or griddle over medium heat. Add 1 tortilla and cook for about 20 to 30 seconds per side. Transfer to a clean kitchen towel, fold towel over tortilla. Repeat with remaining tortillas.
• Spread ⅓ cup enchilada sauce in each of 2 (13- by 9-inch) baking dishes. Mix 1 cup sauce into chicken (or beans, if using.) Place 4 tortillas on work surface. Place about 3 tablespoons chicken down the center of each tortilla. Add 2 tablespoons shredded cheese, a few olive slices, about 2 tablespoons onions or other vegetable. Roll up tortillas and place in baking dish, seam side down. Repeat with remaining tortillas and filling. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover sauce and enchiladas separately, refrigerate.)
• Preheat oven to 350°. Top enchiladas with about 1 cup sauce per dish, sprinkle with remaining cheese. Cover with foil, bake 20 minutes (30 minutes if chilled.) Remove foil and bake until sauce bubbles, about 10 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
I have always made these enchiladas in the traditional method of filling individual tortillas, rolling them up and placing them in the baking dish. It dawned on me after I made this batch that assembling them as I would a lasagna would work (and taste exactly the same.) I’ll try that next time.
Shredded Chicken Filling for Enchiladas
I got split chicken breasts from Valley Acres Farm at the Bardstown Road Farmers’ Market and they are fabulous. I do hope you’ll get bone-in breasts with the skin on just for the better flavor you’ll enjoy.
• Place chicken in a large pot or Dutch oven. Add onion, carrot, celery, bay leaves, salt and pepper. Cover with water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer about 30 minutes, then remove from heat. Allow chicken to cool in the broth. Reserve the broth for another use (soup, etc.). Discard the vegetables and chicken skin. Remove meat from the bones, and shred with 2 forks or your fingers.
