Chicken Enchiladas with Salsa Verde

When your children take one bite and say “Mom, this is the BEST thing you’ve made in MONTHS,” you know you have a winner on your hands. Friends, meet the meal that literally drew applause at the dinner table (Disclaimer: my children are just a teensy bit dramatic so those results may not be typical!). But honestly, this is a dish that is GREEN (thanks to salsa verde and cilantro) and has things SMUSHED TOGETHER (shreded chicken, cream cheese, and salsa verde stuffed into corn tortillas) and STILL the applause came. Beat that!

This is a great Sunday dinner because the chicken cooking and assembly takes a little bit of time but the process is actually kind of fun. Your children may even want to get in on the action once you have the elements in place on the counter. Who cares if the tortillas are rolled evenly? If they had a hand in making dinner, your odds of the kids eating it go up tenfold. (Second disclaimer: I’m about the farthest thing from a statistician you can get so tenfold may or may not be an accurate figure here, but you get my point.)

Okay, off to the kitchen you go. Make these. And for heavens sake, graciously accept the accolades that are coming your way!

 

Chicken Enchiladas with Salsa Verde
adapted from Cooking Light 2006

serves 4

 

Ingredients

1 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 (7-ounce) bottle salsa verde (I like the Herdez brand)

2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast (about 1-1.5 lbs boneless breasts if you’re cooking your own)

1/3 cup (3 ounces) lowfat cream cheese

1 cup fat free, less-sodium chicken broth (if you’re poaching your chicken you won’t need this – just use the water you cooked the chicken in!)

8 (6 inch) corn tortillas (I used a Chi-Chi’s “flour and corn” variety – worked beautifully)

Cooking Spray

1/2 cup crumbled queso fresco (LOVE how this melts for enchiladas)

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

4 lime wedges

Cilantro sprigs (optional)

 

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 425°.

2.  Combine first 4 ingredients in the food processor; blend until smooth. In a large bowl, mix shredded chicken with cream cheese and stir in 1/2 cup salsa mixture. Reserve remaining salsa mixture.

3.  Bring broth to a simmer in a medium skillet. Working with one tortilla at a time, add tortilla to pan; cook 10 seconds or until moist, turning once. Remove tortilla; drain on paper towels. Spoon about 1/4 cup chicken mixture down center of tortilla; roll up. (Hint: don’t overfill these – it won’t look like much but it will be plenty and you need to fill all 8 tortillas!) Place tortilla, seam-side down, in an 9 x 13-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Repeat procedure with remaining tortillas, broth, and chicken mixture.

4.  Pour remaining salsa mixture over enchiladas; sprinkle evenly with queso fresco and chili powder. Bake at 425° for 18 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Garnish with cilantro and serve with lime wedges. Gather compliments.

 

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Recalculating

As a working mother, at this time of year I feel like I’m staring at the GPS of my life and it’s stuck on that all-too-familiar screen that simply reads, “Recalculating.” With new school schedules, sports schedules, activity schedules, meal times, bus times, dropoff and pickup times, homework times, and bedtimes….everything is one big tangle of newness.  I don’t quite have my bearings yet; I’m venturing a guess that you might not either.

And believe me, I’m the kind of girl who cherishes having her bearings. I’m not so great at living in a state of perpetual adaptation. But that’s what September brings, so that’s my life right now. As a result, until our schedule settles into place, I’m trying things on for size but not forcing myself to make any declarations of how things will be until I’m good and ready. I’m living with the questions instead of having all the answers.

I’m watching my three munchkins wrestle with the changes, too. Except rather than living with the questions, my kiddos are looking to me to have the answers. Sometimes they don’t even ask them out loud, preferring that I infer the question from their little upturned, tear-stained faces. Other times, they actually ask.

“Why am I so hungry at bedtime?” (Because we had dinner at 5:45 – which is the only way it works before soccer – and you’re used to eating an hour later.)

“Why did we miss the bus?” (Because, for the love of God, it hasn’t come at the same time two days in a row since school started!)

“Why don’t I have a lunchbox this year? I had one last year! Remember?” (Because this year you get home from kindergarten at 11:15 and last year you were in preschool till 1:00. It doesn’t make sense to me either, honey. In fact, so far I’ve forgotten this fact – TWICE – and packed a lunch for you in last year’s lunchbox!)

“Why are my clothes all laid out in a row on the floor?” (Because I refuse to dig for matching socks at 6:45 AM. Plus, this way we stand a better than 50% chance of you putting on all the pieces of your outfit and me making it downstairs dressed, too.)

“Why can’t I play on your iPad?” (Because you have 30 minutes of reading to squeeze into the next 24 minutes.)

“What’s my Edline password? Xtramath password? Superkids password? Go Math password? Disney Junior password? Magazine drive website password? School lunch code? Bus number? Bus SEAT number?” (AAAAAARGH.)

“Why are you going to Meet the Teacher night? Didn’t you just GO to Meet the Teacher night?” (I am on my 5th event so far this month with a title that includes the words “Meet the Teacher.” I’ll keep going as long as I keep getting invited. I like teachers. Especially yours.)

“Did you really go to bed at 8:30 last night, Mom?” (Yup.)

This is not our easy season, fellow moms. Buckle up for a little turbulence till things settle out. In a few weeks, we’ll all have the hang of this and we’ll be sailing through October with a Pumpkin Spice Latte in hand. Pinky swear. Till then, let’s use “Recalculating” as our mantra and sneak in a little deep breathing here and there. We’ve got this.

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Chicken and Vegetable Kebabs with Creamy Pesto Dipping Sauce

Nothing says Labor Day like a barbecue…and nothing upgrades a barbecue like a chicken and vegetable kebab with a creamy pesto dipping sauce! You’ll have more energy for that game of volleyball or for a dip in the pool  if you eat something not quite as heavy as hamburgers, hot dogs, and potato salad drenched in mayonnaise.

I promise that this recipe is a cinch to double, triple, or quadruple if you’re cooking for a crowd and your kids will love threading everything onto the skewers. Your guests will adore you for feeding them a meal they can feel great about eating that’s delicious, too!

 

Chicken and Vegetable Kebabs with Creamy Pesto Dipping Sauce
serves 4

 

Ingredients

2 teaspoons grated lemon rind

4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice, divided

2 teaspoons minced garlic

2 teaspoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

8 (1 inch) pieces yellow bell pepper

8 cherry tomatoes

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 small red onion cut into 8 wedges

cooking spray

4 tablespoons plain nonfat Greek yogurt

1 tablespoon prepared pesto

 

Directions

1.  Preheat grill (or broiler).

2.  Combine rind, 1 tablespoon juice, garlic and next three ingredients.  Thread vegetables and chicken onto 4 (12 inch) skewers.  Brush with lemon/oil mixture. Place skewers on a hot grill or onto a  broiler pan coated with cooking spray.  Broil or grill 12 minutes or until chicken is cooked through, turning occasionally.

3.  Combine remaining 1 teaspoon juice, yogurt, and pesto.  Serve sauce with kebabs.

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