Recipe: Chicken Enchiladas Verde

We all love The Pioneer Woman.

And most of love enchiladas.

So when The Pioneer Woman goes ahead and *makes* "simple. perfect. enchiladas", we should all sit up and take notice.

And I did, except my mind kept wandering to two places, La Bamba and Campeche Bay, where they serve the most ridiculously delicious verde cheese enchiladas. And I wondered, if it was at all humanly possible, to adapt this wonderful recipe to replicate those green-sauced delights.

The answer is a resounding "YES!"

And I am happy.

Gather up your ingredients: a can of verde enchilada sauce, natural goodness chicken broth, vegetable oil, flour, ground chicken breast, red onion, black olives, green onions, a can of chopped green chiles, corn tortillas, and extra sharp cheddar.



Combine about 1 tbsp oil and 1 tbsp flour in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk together.



After the mixture thickens (it took about four-five minutes), whisk in the canned green enchilada sauce. Whisk until smooth.



And then add in about a cup of chicken broth, whisking all the while.



When the sauce is nice and smooth, add some ground black pepper and kosher salt to taste. Leave to simmer on low heat.



Chop up about 1/2 large onion. I like red onions. I find them extremely versatile, flavorful and they add some nice color to meals. Put them in a saute pan and start to heat them up. After a few minutes, toss in your ground chicken and let it start cooking up.



In the meantime, you can chop up your black olives and slice your green onions. It will keep you busy.



When the chicken is cooked thoroughly, add in a can of green chiles and mix in. Remove from heat.



Heat some oil in a small frying pan and give your tortillas a light fry. When they bubble up like that, flip them over, wait for the bubble on the opposite side and then transfer to some paper towels. This will help drain the oil and keep them heated for the next step.



Here's where it gets fun.

You're going to want to dip each tortilla in the green sauce. Carefully. And lightly. And somehow manage to take a picture. Thank goodness for MacGyver. Otherwise, you would have had to take my word for it.



You will then fill with a little bit o' chicken, a little bit o' olives, and a little bit o' green onions.



And then some cheese.



Then. And here's where it gets REALLY fun. You want to roll them up and place them in a baking dish, open side down.

Warning. They are hot. From the sauce. There's a good chance you will scald your little fingers. Not that I did. Nope. Not me.



When you have filled the baking dish, pour the rest of the sauce on top.



And then sprinkle with your remaining cheese.



I sorely underestimated the appropriate quantity of cheese for this recipe.



So I had to grate up some more.



Pop this bad boy in the oven at 350* for about 20-25 minutes. And crack open a beer. This is exhausting work. I know at this point, MacGyver was getting grouchy. He was totally thinking "These had better be some damn fine enchiladas."



Oh, hai there. Have you ever seen anything so pretty? And cheesy? And melty?



Here's another look. Just.... stare at it a while.



Nom nom nom.



I asked MacGyver what he thought. It took him a minute to answer because his mouth was full of cheesy enchilada goodness, but his immediate response was "Make these again."

Sure. I'll hop right on that. After a nap.

But seriously. Amazing. Just like La Bamba and Campeche Bay (assuming I had them with chicken). And that's a plus in my book.