Chicken Enchiladas

You need:
3 Chicken breasts
2 tbs olive oil
2 cloves Garlic
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 block of Pepper Jack Cheese
1 block of Monterey Jack Cheese
15-20 Tortillas (go for wheat tortillas... just don't get the Mission wheat ones, they're not tasty)
1 batch of Salsa Verde (see recipe below)

To do:
In a large frying pan, heat olive oil on medium heat
Chop garlic and add to pan (you can also add some onions and cilantro if you have it handy)
Butterfly chicken breasts (cut them in half to make them thinner)
Put chicken in pan and cook completely (about 5 minutes each side)
Once cooked, allow chicken to cool. Grate the cheese while you wait.
Shred chicken (your hands are the best tool for this... or you can use a couple of forks)
Set up your table with your shredded cheese, salsa, tortillas and chicken ready to use.
Put a little sauce in the bottom of your casserole dish, then start making the enchiladas. Add chicken sauce and cheese to each tortilla, roll it up and put it in your casserole...until it's all filled up!
Pour lots of salsa verde over the top, and cover with cheese (I like to mix up the pepperjack and monterrey cheeses).

At this point you can put the casserole in the fridge or even freeze it until you're ready to cook. Make sure it's defrosted before sticking it in the oven.

Cook for about an hour at 350 degrees! Enjoy.

Salsa Verde

You will need:

• 3lb tomatillos
• 5 chilies de arbol
• 1 yellow onion cut into eighths
• 3-6 cloves of garlic peeled
• 3 jalapeños cut into quarters
• 3 tsp ground cumin
• 1 bunch cilantro
• Salt and pepper to taste

To do:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
• Boil water in a large soup pot. Add the 5 chilies de arbol and boil for 15 minutes to rehydrate.
• Peal and clean the tomatillos.
• Cook onions, jalapeños, garlic and half of the tomatillos in a Pyrex in the oven for 15 minutes.
• Add the other half of the tomatillos to the boiling water with the chiles de arbol for 5 minutes.
• Using your blender or food processor, blend all ingredients together until it is the consistency you like.

This is great for dipping or as a sauce for enchiladas. Increase the chiles de arbol for more spice!

Orange Ginger Roasted Chicken

You will need:

• Whole chicken
• 6 large oranges
• 2 Serrano chilies, chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, chopped (or more if you love garlic like me)
• 2-3 inches of ginger, chopped
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 ziplock or other bag big enough to put the whole chicken in
• Salt and pepper to taste

To do:

• Chop your ginger, garlic and Serrano
• Add the olive oil to a sauce pan on medium heat, saute ginger, garlic and serrano for 3-5 minutes.
• Add the zest of one orange to the mixture.
• Add the juice of the 6 oranges. Cook to thicken about 5 minutes. Set aside until cool
• Put chicken and marinade in the marinading bag for 2-3 hours in the refridgerator.

To cook:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• If you want to stuff it you can put in a nice brown rice or your favorite stuffing. If you're not going to stuff it you can put an extra orange cut up inside the cavity of the bird.
• Put chicken in the roasting pan. Cook as listed below and enjoy!
  

Cooking times

• Unstuffed: cook for about an hour. Use your thermometer to make sure it's fully cooked.
• Stuffed: cook for about an hour and 20 minutes.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
• 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. milk
• 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1-1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
• 1 Tbsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup semisweet or dark chocolate chips

Prep: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray two cookie sheets with nonstick spray.

To do:

• In a large bowl, cream together pumpkin, sugars, butter and egg.
• In a small dish, dissolve baking soda into milk. Set aside.
• In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, salt and spices.
• Add baking soda mixture to flour mixture.
• Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture, stirring until just combined. Be careful not to overmix or the batter will get tough.
• Add vanilla extract and chocolate chips.
• Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto prepared cookie sheets.
• Bake 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned.

I recently picked up a few Scoops and they're great for making your cookies all the same size so they all come out evenly cooked. It made a big difference. I like the little ones because then each cookie is about 2 bites, and you don't feel bad eating more than one. It also makes them easier to share!

Enjoy...

Cook with me

I love to bake and cook, and I like to put a somewhat healthy twist on things, so take a look at some of my delicious recipes and if you enjoy them let me know!