Easy Peasy Dinner

It was another busy day for Lexi and me. I didn’t get home from my Memoir Writing class until 5:00. Lexi had to leave by 6:30 to join her friend Layla to sing at an open mic in downtown San Jose. Of course, I had nothing prepared for dinner. But I did have corn tortillas, enchilada sauce, and two boneless chicken breast halves. Enchiladas! They aren’t fancy or complicated but very tasty and quick and easy to prepare, especially doing it as a team, like we did.
    I started the process by simmering the chicken breasts, cooling them and then shredding them with two forks. I could have used shredded rotisserie chicken if I had some but I didn’t. It only took 10 minutes to cook the breasts so it wasn’t a big deal.
Then all I had to do was briefly fry the tortillas and put them in a pan of bottled enchilada sauce. Lexi then turned them in the sauce to coat them, put them in a greased baking dish, and filled them. We had a good production line going. A final bath of sauce, some shredded cheese on top and into the oven they went. Twenty minutes later: dinner. Add a tossed salad and Spanish Rice, if desired.
Easy Peasy!

All you need to make Enchiladas

Bake until bubbly

 Easy Peasy Enchiladas

8 corn tortillas
1  12 oz. bottle Trader Joe’s Enchilada sauce
1  2.5 oz can sliced ripe olives
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided
1 cup shredded cooked chicken (make your own or use rotisserie chicken from market)
1/2 medium onion, chopped fine
4 Tblsp. vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Arrange an assembly line so you can fry tortillas, dip them in sauce which you have poured into shallow bowl, and then arrange in baking dish to be filled. Have fillings ready and at hand.
Lightly spray 8”x8” baking dish with Pam or equivalent.
Heat vegetable oil in small frying pan over medium-low heat. Dip tortilla in oil briefly, turning once, to soften. Immediately dip hot tortilla in enchilada sauce, turning once to coat, then arrange in baking dish to be filled.
Quickly fill each tortilla with 2 Tblsp. shredded chicken, 2 Tblsp. shredded cheese, 1 tsp. olives, and 1 Tblsp. chopped onion. Fold over so seam side is down.
When all tortillas are filled, pour remaining sauce over the enchiladas and top with shredded cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until bubbling. Let sit 5 minutes before serving. Optional: garnish with chopped cilantro, sour cream and/or scallions.
Makes 8 enchiladas and serves 3-6