Ain’t no party like a Pyrex party

I’m getting into the habit of spending a lot of time in the kitchen at the start of the week. I like making one big mess and multiple meals in a marathon session because then it’s easier to focus on other projects and activities later in the week. It feels like I’m working smarter, not harder -- if I’m going to use a certain vegetable in multiple recipes, I’d rather do all the chopping at once and save myself the hassle of washing the cutting board and knife twice. With proper menu planning, it’s also a great way to get the most out of your groceries while everything’s fresh. Take, for example, the following two meals that I made, one after the other, a few days ago. Both recipes include chicken breast, cheese and green onion -- I was able to use a two-pound package of chicken, a 12-ounce bag of pre-shredded cheese and one bunch of onions without having to stash any pesky remnants in the fridge. Knocked out a good portion of my prep work while baking the chicken (375 degrees for 20-ish minutes) and tackled the dishes while my concoctions bubbled away in the oven.

First into the oven was a gooey cheese-and-rice dish, the recipe for which I got from my mother-in-law, Lynn (it’s a family classic). After that, the newest of my never-ending attempts at making things delicious by smothering everything in enchilada sauce.

Cheesy Chicken and Rice Bake 
Adapted from a recipe that originally appeared in “Casseroles” by Beatrice Ojakangas 
2 cups water
2 chicken bouillon cubes
1 cup uncooked white rice
¼ cup unsalted butter
8 ounces sliced brown mushrooms
⅓ cup sliced green onions
3 tablespoons flour
¼ teaspoon dried marjoram
2 cups nonfat milk
2 cups shredded reduced-fat cheese, divided
1 (2-ounce) jar chopped pimentos, drained
2 cups chopped, cooked chicken breast
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium saucepan, bring water to a boil with bouillon, stirring until bouillon cubes are dissolved. Stir in rice, bring back to a boil and then reduce heat to low. Cook until rice is tender, about 20 minutes. In another medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add mushrooms and green onions and sauté 5 minutes. Stir in flour, salt, pepper and marjoram until blended. Remove from heat and gradually stir in milk. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, for 1 minute or until thickened. Stir in 1 cup cheese and pimentos and stir until cheese melts. Stir in chicken and rice. Pour mixture into glass baking dish and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes or until heated through.

Chicken Tortilla Casserole 
2 cups chopped, cooked chicken breast
2 tablespoons sliced green onion
1 cup cooked black beans
1 cup corn kernels
½ teaspoon garlic powder
1 4.25-ounce can chopped olives
1 pack La Tortilla Factory green chile tortillas (or 8 corn tortillas), cut into strips
1 28-ounce can red enchilada sauce
2 cups grated reduced-fat cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix first six ingredients in medium bowl. In a 9-by-13 baking dish, layer all ingredients in the following manner: enchilada sauce (first layer should be enough to lightly coat the bottom of the baking dish), tortilla strips, chicken mixture, handful of cheese, healthy drizzle of sauce. Top the final layer of tortilla strips with remaining sauce and cheese. Cover dish with aluminum foil, bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 10 minutes more. Remove dish from oven and let sit 10 minutes before serving.

May 2 Salad

It’s not the most original, but taco salad is a favorite of mine. This one begins with baby greens upon which I heap all kinds of goodies like seasoned ground turkey, sharp cheddar, corn, red bell pepper and pinto beans. A toasted flour tortilla cut into quarters adds some more crunch. The salad’s ready to go after a quick drizzle of my absolute favorite store-bought salad dressing, Briannas Special Request Santa Fe Blend.

In a casserole kind of mood?

I felt the need to fire up my Crock-Pot a while back and went hunting for recipes. The good folks at Campbell’s captured my attention with a dish that called for slow-cooked chicken breasts, shredded and baked with tortillas and tons of cheese.

In this case, I don’t think the slow cooking was necessary. You can probably get the same results, but faster, by either baking the chicken breasts or using leftovers. I tweaked the recipe by scaling back the cheese, using enchilada sauce (they called for taco seasoning) and adding corn and olives. Try this dish the next time you’re craving a gooey casserole.

Cheesy Chicken Enchilada Bake
Adapted from Campbell’s
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 ½ cups red enchilada sauce
5 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 cans reduced fat condensed cream of chicken soup
1 ½ cups corn kernels (I used frozen corn)
1 can large olives, drained and loosely chopped
Fajita-size flour tortillas, cut into 1-inch pieces
3 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend

Place the chicken into a 3 1/2-quart slow cooker. Top with ½ cup enchilada sauce and 3 ½ cups of the broth. Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours or until the chicken is cooked through. Remove and shred the chicken — a fork and knife will work for this.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine remaining broth and enchilada sauce with condensed soup, corn and olives in saucepan. Cook at medium heat until everything is warm and stir in chicken.
Layer half of the chicken mixture with tortillas and cheese in a 9-by-13 glass dish. Repeat the layer and bake for 30 minutes, until everything is hot and bubbly.

Fudging enchiladas with flour tortillas

I can’t roll an enchilada to save my life.
No matter what I do, I can’t seem to keep corn tortillas from splitting at some point in the rolling process. This results in lots of enchilada casserole for dinner, which still tastes great but it just doesn’t look as cool.

I subbed flour tortillas for the corn ones with my most recent batch of enchiladas. I recall one of my college roommates making some pretty solid enchiladas with flour tortillas, so why not give it a try for myself? I had much better luck rolling the flour tortillas. I couldn’t find small flour tortillas when I hit the store, and eight medium tortillas were all I needed to fill a 9-by-13 baking dish.

Everybody has a go-to cheese for their enchiladas, and I normally like to use either medium cheddar or Monterey jack. We recently found some chipotle cheddar at Winco, which added a nice flavor to this batch.

These enchiladas took less than an hour to make. Obviously nothing tops fresh, homemade ingredients, but there’s no shame in utilizing shortcuts, especially on weeknights!
I try to keep a bag of cooked shrimp in the freezer, as well as a bag of corn kernels. With that in mind, I’ve written the recipe from the point that all frozen ingredients have been thawed. I also use pre-made enchilada sauce.

Southwest Shrimp Enchiladas
½ pound medium cooked shrimp
8 medium flour tortillas
3 cups red enchilada sauce
2 cups grated cheese
1 cup corn
1 cup black beans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Warm enchilada sauce in a saucepan over medium heat. Ladle enough enchilada sauce to lightly coat the bottom of a 9-by-13 glass baking dish. For each enchilada, dip a tortilla in sauce and place in dish. Add shrimp (I planned for about 5 shrimp per enchilada), and a spoonful of beans, corn and some shredded cheese. Roll each enchilada so all eight sit snug in the baking dish. Pour remaining enchilada sauce on top, sprinkle with remaining cheese, cover dish with foil and place in the oven. Bake 20 minutes, or until cheese on top of enchiladas has melted.