I’m not exactly sure where the phrase, “home is where the heart is” came from, but whoever came up with it does not understand the heart of a homebody.
Yes, I know that the phrase is supposed to be metaphorical. But as a woman who has spent the past four weekends traveling: Home is where my house is, and I’d like to spend more time there.
The relentless traveling has all been for good reasons. The first weekend, I was traveling to visit a friend I hadn’t seen in months. The second, I was on vacation with my husband. The third, I went to visit my brother for his 30th birthday. And this past weekend, I was gone for my best friend’s bridal shower. It has been a really wonderful, celebratory time in my life.
But traveling so much means it is hard to keep up with the normal tasks of making my house livable and keeping me and my husband fed. Basically, all of the goodness around me has made me tired and in want of a good meal.
So, this week, I went all the way back to a classic: Chicken Enchiladas.
Now, I am going to give a disclaimer: What I make is not traditional Mexican food. I am not from Mexico, and have no business claiming I can cook traditional Mexican food. I eat it and love every bite, but my food is not what I would call authentic by any means.
Despite this disclaimer, I love chicken enchiladas. I first started making them in college as a way to feed myself and my roommate for up to a week at a time (yes, we would really eat the same thing for seven days in a row— don’t judge), and I still try to one-up myself every time I make them to this day.
So this week, I searched for a good chicken enchiladas recipe to throw together, so my husband and I would have at least a few meals covered. And while looking for a delicious enchiladas recipe, I saw one that said “Shortcut” in the title on the Food Network’s website.
I was immediately intrigued. Shortcut meant less preparation. Shortcut meant less time cooking. And shortcut meant that maybe I would get to do other important things I needed to do, like resting for a minute.
When I opened the recipe, I realized that I was suddenly being exposed to a new reality: Using pre-cooked rotisserie chicken within a recipe. And I knew I had to try it to see if it would be just as good or better than my normal enchiladas.
After a few quick changes to bump up the flavor level, a grocery run and less than an hour of cooking, I have to say: They’re everything you want them to be. Quick, easy, filling and delicious. And at the end of the day, my home was better for it, because my whole house smelled like delicious enchiladas.
SHORTCUT ROTISSERIE CHICKEN ENCHILADAS
Ingredients
One 15-ounce can refried beans (about 1 cup)
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
12 ounces (3 cups) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/2 rotisserie chicken, meat shredded (about 2 1/4 cups), bones and skin discarded
Freshly ground black pepper
1 16-ounce jar medium-spicy tomato salsa
6 12-inch flour tortillas
Sour cream and other toppings, for serving
Directions
■ Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Stir together the beans, oregano and 1 cup cheese in a bowl. Add the chicken, season with pepper, cumin and chili powder and stir until evenly combined.
■ Stir the salsa together with 1 cup water in a bowl, then transfer 1 cup to cover the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Stack the tortillas, wrap them in damp paper towels and microwave until warm and pliable, about 15 seconds.
■ Arrange the tortillas on a workspace, then divide the chicken filling among the tortillas (about 1/4-cup filling per tortilla). Roll the tortillas up like a cigar, then transfer them to the baking dish seam-side down, positioning the rolls so that the dish is filled evenly. Press the rolls gently with your hands so they begin to soak the sauce up. Pour the remaining salsa mixture over the rolled tortillas, then sprinkle with the remaining 2 cups cheese.
■ Bake the enchiladas until the cheese melts and the enchiladas are hot in the center, about 30 minutes. Serve hot with sour cream or your favorite toppings.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 37 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
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