Super Bean Burritos

I love love love love this recipe!!!!!!! Some of the highlights for you: 1) It is easy to make. 2) None of the ingredients are abnormal. 3) It makes enough to feed an army. 4) It is versatile. 5) It has a great flavor. 6) It is healthy. 7) It is meatless but doesn't have to be. (But it really doesn't need the meat.)

Are you convinced yet that you MUST make this recipe? What if I told you that I am making this again tonight? What if I told you that you and your husband and even your kids will have dinner today and lunch tomorrow and you might STILL have leftovers that you can continue to enjoy after that? Or there are even directions for freezing these if you want. What if I told you that I might have even had these for breakfast one day....

So, needless to say, these are excellent. I do have to add one disclaimer: if you don't like onions this is not the recipe for you. It calls for a LOT of different onions. We love onions so that is not a problem for us.

And, like I said, this is a healthy recipe; however, if you want to make it even more healthy you can use brown rice, serve it on whole grain/whole wheat tortillas, use black beans instead of pinto, don't smother it in sour cream and cut back on the cheese. I didn't put cheese on mine at all and didn't feel like it was missing anything. I love eating mine with green salsa; the hubby loves his with red salsa. Like I said, it is versatile.

I also used a whole 8 oz can of tomato paste the first time I made this by accident but I didn't feel like it was a problem at all. In fact, I plan on doing it again tonight!

Thanks a MILLION to Real Mom Kitchen for the picture and recipe. You can visit her fantastic site here: http://realmomkitchen.com/1087/super-bean-burritos/

Super Bean Burritos

From Real Mom Kitchen
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• 1 cup brown or white rice (or 2 cups already cooked rice)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1 jalapeno, seeds and membrane removed, finely diced (can substitute 1 can of green chiles which is what I did)
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 cans (15 oz. each) pinto beans, drained and rinsed (I used black beans)
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 (10 oz) package frozen corn or 1 can whole kernel corn, drained (I personally would recommend the frozen corn)
• 6 green onions, white and green parts finely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 16 burrito-sized (10-inch) flour tortillas
• 2 cups shredded Monterrey Jack cheese (or whatever kind of cheese you have)

1. Cook rice; set aside. Meanwhile, heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, jalapeno and cumin; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are softened and golden, being careful not to let the garlic burn. Add tomato paste and cook, stirring for 1 minute.
2. Add one can of beans and mash gently in the pan (a potato masher or fork works great here). Add the second can of beans and the water and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened, 10-12 minutes, being careful not to let the mixture stick to the bottom of the pot. Add corn; cook to heat through, 2-3 minutes. Stir in onion and garlic powders. Remove from heat; stir in green onions and cooked rice.
3. Heat tortillas in microwave for about 30-45 seconds or until all are warmed through.
4. Fill each tortilla with about 2/3 cup bean and rice mixture and 1/4 cup cheese on one side of tortilla. Fold, and hold in sides. Starting from filled end, holding sides in as you work, tightly roll into a bundle. Place on a baking sheet, seam side down, and prepare remaining burritos.
5. Serve warm immediately, with salsa and sour cream if desired — or, to freeze for later consumption.

For enchilada style:I put 5 burritos in a baking dish. Then I poured a (10 oz.) can of green enchilada sauce. You can use more enchilada sauce if you like. The 10 oz can just gave them a light coating. Make sure that the sauce completely covers the burritos, you can use a spoon to help spread it around. Then sprinkle with 1 cup or so of shredded Monterrey jack cheese. Turn oven to broil. Place baking dish on middle rack of the oven (not the top) and broil until the cheese is nice and melty.

To Freeze: Put burritos on a baking sheet in the freezer for at least 30 minutes, or until very cold so that they don’t come apart in the wrapping process. Remove them from the freezer and wrap each burrito individually in plastic wrap and place all the wrapped burritos in a freezer-safe resealable bag and freeze up to three months.

To reheat from frozen: Remove plastic wrap from the burrito. Poke holes in the top several times with a fork. Microwave on high for two minutes. Gently poke a few more holes in the burrito and microwave for another minute. Be careful as the burrito will be piping hot!

Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Soup

I am not a big soup fan but I like soups that are chock full of ingredients. Hearty and thick and less liquidy. I am a big fan of taco soup and this recipe was a good change up from our normal. It wasn't drastically different but it had a good flaovr to it and it is a really easy way to use up leftoever turkey if you have some in a few weeks!

This recipe and picture are from Sweet Treats and More and can be found at this site here: http://www.sweettreatsmore.com/2010/11/i-hope-you-all-had-great-thanksgiving.html

Crock Pot Chicken Enchilada Soup
From Sweet Treats and More, Adapted from allrecipes
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2 c. chicken broth
1 10 oz. can enchilada sauce
1/4 c. sour cream
1 (16oz) can diced tomato
1 (4 oz) can diced green chili
1 can black beans, drained
1 cup frozen corn
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp pepper
4 boneless skinless chicken tenders (2 breasts OR abt 2 cups shredded turkey)
4  corn tortillas

Place everything but the tortillas in the crock pot, stir together, and cook on high for about 3 hours (or low for 6-8 hours). (I ALWAYS aim low!)

Shred corn tortillas into small squares and stir into soup 5-10 minutes before serving.  Garnish with cheese, avocado, and additional sour cream if desired.

Spinach Enchiladas

These take a place on my list of favorite meals. My husband and I absolutely loved them. They were a little spicy with a fantastic flavor and, unfortunately, filling also! (We wanted to eat a lot more than we could.) And one of my favorite parts about this meal is that it is meatless.

Even if you aren't a corn tortilla fan I would strongly recommend that you use the corn tortillas. I don't usually like them but in this meal they were perfect. The corn flavor that they lend to the dish is the perfect compliment to the other flavors and the texture is perfect for a meatless meal.

This recipe is courtesy of Allrecipes.com, picture courtesy of CookinBug and can be found at this site here: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/spinach-enchiladas/detail.aspx 

SPINACH ENCHILADAS

From Allrecipes.com

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• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 cup sliced green onions
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach , thawed, drained and squeezed dry
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese (I used 1 cup mozzarella, 1 cup cheddar)
• 10 (6 inch) corn tortillas
• 1 (19 ounce) can enchilada sauce

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and onion; cook for a few minutes until fragrant, but not brown. Stir in spinach, and cook for about 5 more minutes. Remove from the heat, and mix in ricotta cheese, sour cream, and 1 cup of Monterey Jack cheese.
3. In a skillet over medium heat, warm tortillas one at a time until flexible, about 15 seconds. Spoon about 1/4 cup of the spinach mixture onto the center of each tortilla. Roll up, and place seam side down in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Pour enchilada sauce over the top, and sprinkle with the remaining cup of Monterey Jack.
4. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until sauce is bubbling and cheese is lightly browned at the edges.

Buffalo Chicken Enchiladas

I love the idea of these enchiladas. Buffalo chicken in a tortilla? Yum! But.... these weren't as good as I was expecting. They tasted a lot like they were caught in a terrible identity crisis between American food (buffalo chicken) and Mexican food (enchiladas). I will say that they were MUCH better the next day slathered in homemade salsa. Much, much better. So maybe you can make something of these?

Thanks to How Sweet It Is for the picture and recipe that you can find at this site here: http://www.howsweeteats.com/2011/08/buffalo-chicken-enchiladas/

Buffalo Chicken Enchiladas

From How Sweet It Is

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8 large whole wheat tortillas (I used flour)

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
28 ounce can red enchilada sauce
1/2 cup buffalo wing sauce (+ more depending on your tastebuds)
1 cup shredded monterey jack cheese
4 ounces gorgonzola cheese, crumbled (or bleu cheese)
5 green onions, chopped
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with non-stick spray. Pour enchilada sauce in a bowl and begin by whisking in 1/4 cup buffalo wing sauce. Taste and adjust according to your desired level of heat – I added in just over 1/4 cup total. Set aside.

Add shredded chicken to a bowl with 2 green onions and 1/2 cup monterey jack cheese. Pour in about a 1/2 cup of enchilada/buffalo sauce mixture and mix thoroughly. Stir until mixture comes together.

Pour a drizzle of enchilada/buffalo sauce in the bottom of the baking dish. Take each tortilla and fill it with a few heaping tablespoons of the chicken mixture. Roll each up and set it in the baking dish, seam side down. Pour another 1/2 cup or more of enchilada/buffalo sauce on top of tortillas and add remaining monterey jack cheese. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Immediately after taking enchiladas out of the oven, add crumbled gorgonzola on top. Garnish with the remaining onions and cilantro and serve. Store the remaining sauce in the fridge for 1-2 weeks, and use if reheating enchiladas.

Fresh Fruit Enchiladas

Ahhhhh.... true inspiration! What better way to avoid the time consuming hassel of making crepes than to use small tortillas instead? Don't get me wrong, I love crepes, but I do not love doing ten times the amount of work for a couple of super thin and non-filling plates of dough.

These enchiladas were divine. The vanilla sauce was perfectly sweet to offset the tartness of the fruit. The tortillas get nice and soft in the oven and are easy to eat without falling apart.

And yes, they are called "fresh" fruit enchiladas. But if you don't want to spend that kind of money grab a bag of your friendly neighborhood frozen assorted fruits. They work just as well.

Breakfast? Dessert? You choose. We chose breakfast and I was a very happy girl for the rest of the day. My picky little one ate half of one of these bad boys all by herself! After trying to force her to eat ANYTHING for the rest of the week I was seriously pleased we found something she likes so much.

Take note: these weren't nearly as good as leftovers so try to consume all of them in one sitting, even if you have to share the love with a neighbor.

This excellent recipe and picture are courtesy of How Sweet It Is and can be found at this site here: http://www.howsweeteats.com/2011/07/fresh-fruit-enchiladas/

Fresh Fruit Enchiladas

From How Sweet It Is

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makes 6 enchiladas

6 tortillas [we used 6-inch]

fresh fruit of your choice, chopped, to amount to about 1-2 cups, depending on tortilla size
2 cups milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons sugar (+ more/less depending on taste)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Begin by preparing the cinnamon-vanilla sauce: in a saucepan melt butter over medium heat. Whisk in flour to create a roux just as you would with a béchamel/cheese sauce, then add in milk, whisking continuously. Add in vanilla, cinnamon and sugar while stirring. Let the mixture come to a light boil (even just bubbles on the edges are fine) and continue to stir while mixture thickens – about 4-5 minutes. Turn down to low and stir. You want it to lightly coat the back of a spoon, but not be too thick. You can also taste test here and see if you’d like to add any additional cinnamon, sugar or flavoring.

Place about 2 tablespoons (if you’re using small tortillas) or 1/3 cup (if you’re using large tortillas) chopped fruit in the center of the tortilla and roll. Spray a baking dish with non-stick spray, ladle a 1/2 cup of your vanilla sauce on the bottom of the dish, then lay your enchiladas seam-side down. When all are rolled cover with more vanilla sauce – the amount it up to you, but I suggest keeping a bit on hand to add on top when they come out of the oven. Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until fruit in the middle begins to burst and soften. Serve immediately with extra sauce for the top.

Creamy Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas

We always love enchiladas and I was excited to try this new recipe! Definitely not the healthiest meal that you could have but it was very delicious. A bit more involved to make and Jake and I both agreed that we liked the Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas  better but that is because they are very creamy while these ones were more true to form. Also, we're not huge "bean" people around here and so next time I make them, because I do want to make them again, I will probably leave the beans out. They will probably be more creamy then, but definitely less healthy! LOL! The picture and recipe are courtesy of My Kitchen Cafe and can be found here.

*AFTER NOTE: My mom commented on this post, August 18th, and said this, "I made these for dinner tonight. After Shayla's comments, I decided to try Great Northern White Beans instead of black beans so that they would give substance without taking away from the other tastes. They were excellent!! My whole family loved them and I have to say that we liked them better than the sour cream enchiladas which have been a favorite around here for a lot of years!! Thanks Shay for the great recipe!!"

CREAMY GREEN CHILE CHICKEN ENCHILADAS
From My Kitchen Cafe
*Serves 4-6

Filling:
3 cups cooked, chopped chicken
2 (4 oz.) cans of green chiles, lightly drained
1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, cubed
1 can white or black beans, rinsed and drained (you can really use any type of bean you prefer here)

Sauce:
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup chopped onion (about 1/2 medium onion)
2 tablespoons flour
1/3 cup chicken broth
¼ cup milk
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 can (7 ounce) green chile enchilada sauce
½ cup sour cream

8 ounces (about 2 cups) Monterey jack cheese, shredded
8 medium (soft taco size) flour tortillas
Handful of chopped fresh cilantro

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a medium bowl, combine the softened cream cheese and green chiles. Mix well. Add the chicken and black beans. Mix to combine. Set aside.

In a large nonstick skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion softens and starts to turn translucent, about 3-4 minutes. Sprinkle the flour over the onions and stir well. Cook for 1 minute, stirring. Slowly whisk in the chicken broth and milk. As you whisk and the mixture cooks, the flour will get less lumpy around the onions and the mixture will become smooth. Cook over medium heat until the mixture is bubbling and has thickened, about 4-5 minutes. Add salt and pepper. Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the enchilada sauce and sour cream.

Lightly grease a 9X13-inch baking dish. Spread about 1/4 cup of the sauce on the bottom of the dish. Fill each tortilla with about ½ cup of the chicken/cream cheese filling. Top with a small handful of shredded cheese, a couple tablespoonfuls for each enchilada. Save at least 1/2 cup cheese for the top of the enchiladas. Roll the tortillas up and place seam side down in the prepared baking dish. Continue filling enchiladas until the dish is full (I can easily fit 8 enchiladas in one pan).

Pour the white sauce over the top of the enchiladas. Top with remaining cheese. Bake for 20-30 minutes until the enchiladas are bubbling, hot and lightly browned. Sprinkle fresh cilantro over the top and serve.

Recipe Source: My Kitchen Cafe (melskitchencafe.com)

Chicken Sour Cream Enchiladas

These are some of my FAVORITE enchiladas. There are never leftovers and they are flavorful and creamy. The ingredient list is again, easy and basic, and you just can't go wrong with this one! The picture is courtesy of Nibble Dish and can be found here.

MOM’S CHICKEN SOUR CREAM ENCHILADAS

2 cans cream of chicken soup
½ chopped onion (or sprinkle in onion powder)
1 can diced chilies
¾ c. water (or chicken broth)
2 cups diced, cooked chicken
12 - 16 oz. Sour cream
Cheddar Cheese
Tortillas

Mix together in a warm pan: soup, onion, chilies, and water. Add chicken. Fold in sour cream. Heat tortillas in frying pan (I just spray the pan or put in a little butter). In a 9 x 13 pan cover bottom of pan with sauce. Put 2 Tbsp. sauce and 1 Tbsp. grated cheese into tortilla and roll. Put side by side in pan. Cover with remaining sauce. Sprinkle with grated cheese. Cover. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. These are even better if they sit for one hour before baking.

Honey Lime Enchiladas

We are BIG fans of enchiladas at our house and I was really excited to try this one out. Jake loved it a lot and it has been linked on so many blog lists that it is almost a sure fire hit wherever you take it! Not too hard with basic ingredients, but takes a bit longer to make because of the needed time for marinating. The picture and recipe are from the wonderful blog: http://sisterscafe.blogspot.com/. Enjoy!

HONEY LIME ENCHILADAS
From The Sister's Cafe

6 Tb honey
4.5 Tb lime juice
1 Tb chili powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 lb cooked chicken, shredded
flour tortillas
colby or monterey jack cheese, shredded
10 oz. can green enchilada sauce

Mix first 4 ingredients together and toss with shredded chicken. Let it "marinate" for at least a half hour. Pour some green enchilada sauce on the bottom of a 10x10 casserole dish or 9x13 pan. Fill flour tortillas with chicken and shredded cheese. Pour the rest of the can of green enchilada sauce over enchiladas then sprinkle with more cheese. (When using a 9x13 I like to use 1 1/2 10 oz. cans) Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. (Put it under the broiler at the end to make the cheese brown and crispy on the top.)

*NOTE: I used a mixture of monterey jack and cheeder cheese, and 2 full cans of the enchilada sauce (one on top, one on bottom). It was great! Also, when marinating make sure that the air cannot get to your chicken or it will dry out. I put mine in a ziploc bag and sucked the air out of it - chicken was nice and moist!

Repeats!

It is always fun to do some classic repeats for dinners! There is no use having favorites if you only get to have them once! Here are the dinners we have repeated this month that are already located on this blog. You can find them at the following addresses:

ENCHILADA CASSEROLE: http://shaylaskitchen.blogspot.com/2008/10/enchilada-casserole.html

CHICKEN CORDON BLEU PASTA: http://shaylaskitchen.blogspot.com/2008/12/chicken-cordon-bleu-pasta.html

PINEAPPLE MEATBALLS: http://shaylaskitchen.blogspot.com/2008/12/pineapple-meatballs.html

SKILLET ENCHILADAS: http://shaylaskitchen.blogspot.com/2009/05/skillet-enchiladas.html

Happy eating!