Enchiladas...oy!

 

As I have mentioned before, I am a member of "The Fresh 20". It is a family meal plan planner that you can get online. I purchased mine because Groupon had it for $20, and I thought what can I loose? Nothing! =o)
I actually don't use it all the time, but there are some good recipes on it. I pick and choose which ones I want, so I don't really follow the meals planned. =o) But they do have some appetizing things and it is nice that that make the shopping list, prep work, and any make ahead directions. 

So moving on to the delicious enchiladas. 

I have NEVER made enchiladas before, but these looked REALLY yummy. I love trying to use dark leafy greens in anything since a lot of the time, they are looked over. I thought that this was a great idea to incorporate more veggies in with usually meat heavy enchiladas. =o)

Recipe adapted from : TheFresh20

INGREDIENTS

For chicken corn & kale enchiladas

Splash of olive oil

6 cups kale leaves, about 4 handfuls roughly chopped with stems removed 1 cup frozen organic corn

¼ cup (4 oz) organic, no salt added tomato paste

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 garlic clove, minced or pressed

½ teaspoon kosher salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper 3 Tablespoons olive oil

¼ cup white whole wheat flour

2 Tablespoons mild chili powder (or ground New Mexico chili powder of your choice)

3 ½ cups low sodium chicken broth, warmed

3 cups shredded chicken * I just bought a rotisserie chicken from the super market.

1 ½ cups loosely packed,  Mexican blend shredded, ½ cup reserved for top, about 5 ounces

12 - 6” organic corn tortillas

¼ bunch fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
4 Tablespoons plain Greek yogurt

For black beans

1 -14.5 ounce can organic, no salt added black beans

Pinch of dried cumin

Pinch of salt & black pepper

 

This meal can be made 2-3 days ahead and refrigerated until dinner night. Serving size is two enchiladas per person; you will have 4 enchiladas left over. Try to resist eating them!

DIRECTIONS

For chicken corn & kale enchiladas

1.        Heat a large, nonstick sauté pan over medium heat and add in oil.

Once the oil is hot add the kale and corn. Cook until kale is wilted and most of the moisture has cooked out, about 4 – 6 minutes.

2.       Remove the kale and corn from the pan and set aside on a plate lined with paper towels to absorb any remaining moisture.

Meanwhile

1.       Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2.       Lightly oil 9x13 inch baking dish and set aside.

3.       In a small bowl, mix tomato paste, cumin, oregano, garlic and salt & pepper – stir to combine and set aside.

4.       Heat a large, nonstick sauté pan over medium heat. Add in oil, flour, and chili powder; stir to combine until it becomes a thick paste. Add in tomato paste mixture and stir to combine.

5.       Slowly add in hot broth while whisking to dissolve the flour mixture.

Continue whisking while adding in all the broth.

6.       Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.

7.       In a medium bowl, combine chicken, cooked kale & corn, 1 cup of cheese, and 1 cup of sauce.

8.       Stack tortillas and wrap in damp paper towels or a clean dish towel; microwave on high for 2 minutes.

9.       Spoon 1 cup of enchilada sauce on the bottom of the prepared baking dish.

10.    Fill each tortilla with a heaping 1/4 cup of filling; roll up tightly and

arrange, seam side down, in prepared baking dish.

11.    Pour remaining sauce over the top of the enchiladas and sprinkle

with remaining ½ cup of cheese.

12.    Cover with foil and place into the preheated oven for 10 minutes.

Remove the foil and bake uncovered for 5 additional minutes to melt the cheese. Serve 2 enchiladas per person. Garnish with fresh cilantro and a dollop of  Greek yogurt.

For black beans

1.     In a small saucepot warm beans with liquid and seasoning.  Simmer for 5 minutes and serve warm.

Turkey Meatball Soup with Barley and Kale

 

One week I was not feeling so well and I was lucky enough to have this recipe on hand. Courtesy of my co-teacher. This soup was so filling and delicious and definitely made me feel much better. This soup lasted my husband and I a good three days. Of course by the end of it, we were tired of it.

Luckily my co-teacher was the guinea pig and made it the day before and was telling me that the barley made the soup really thick. I really don't like this type of soup to be too thick so it was a nice warning for me to change it up.

As you can see from the picture of the recipe, my co-teacher found it from a magazine.

  

I, of course, did not follow the exact ingredients, so here is my revised version. 

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil

2 medium carrots, peels and diced

2 ribs of celery, diced (I try to get the inner most ones with the leaves. I think the leaves have so much flavor! =o)

1 cup diced onions

3-4 cloves of garlic, finely diced

6 cups of chicken broth (I used Rachel Ray's low sodium chicken stock)

3/4 cup of barley (I used a quick cooking version. I think this would be good with pearled barley as well. I just didn't  have the time to wait for it to cook.)

1 lb of ground turkey (I like Perdue)

3/4 (or more) cup shredded Parmesan Cheese, plus more to garnish

2 tbsp fresh chopped parsley

1 1/2 tsp salt (to taste)

1/2 tsp pepper (to taste)

1 can (15.5 oz) small white beans. (These are a little smaller than cannellini beans which I like better in this soup)

8 cups roughly chopped kale. (I couldn't find escarole the first time I made this, but when I made this soup for the second time, I decided that I liked the kale better.)

As for the directions, I pretty much followed the directions on the original recipe. 

 

ENJOY!!!