Mexican Fiesta!

As some of you may know, Bill really likes loves  Mexican food, so I make it a lot....and of course I enjoy it too!
In fact, we even decided to have our rehearsal dinner at a Mexican restaurant! 

I have so many good and fun variations of tacos, enchiladas, and salsa that I thought I would just make one big post about some of my favorites. The great thing about Mexican food is that once you find flavors you like, you can switch it around. My dad always said it's just the same ingredients packaged differently, but I  am not sure if that's exactly true. However, I do like the concept!


Basic Chicken Enchiladas (with green sauce)
This recipe is adapted from Real Simple 

Ingredients: 

• 1 Rotisserie Chicken cut up(or two boneless chicken breasts cooked and shredded)
• 1 16-ounce jar mild salsa verde
• 1 onion (white) chopped (sometimes I just use the chopped onions from the freezer, if I am limited on time).
• 3/4 teaspoon of cumin
• 1 cup of half and half
• kosher salt and black pepper
• Flour tortillas ( also good with corn tortillas)
• 1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
• 1 1/4 cups grated Monterey Jack (5 ounces)
• 2 tablespoons of minced garlic (Again, I just use the fresh garlic in a jar for connivence)
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat olive oil on medium-high in a frying pan. Once oil is hot, cook  your onions. Meanwhile, cut up chicken. Combine chicken, cooked onions, cumin, salt and pepper,  1 cup of cheese and garlic in a bowl. Next, combine half and half, green salsa, and tomatoes in a bowl. Pour 1/2 of your salsa mixture into the chicken bowl. The chicken mixture is your filling for your enchiladas. Place tortillas with filling  in a pyrex dish. I think its best to heat the tortillas in the microwave for 15-30 seconds if you are using flour. Top with the remaining sauce and cheese.  Cooking 15 minutes. 


I served this with Mexican rice with peas and homemade salsa(recipe following) ! Sooo good! 

Simple Homemade salsa ( I think this is my Aunt Terry's recipe.)

This recipe is really not hard and very refreshing! 

1 32 oz can of whole tomatoes, drained

1 tablespoon of sugar

1 tablespoon of vinegar

1 jalapeno pepper

1/2 tablespoon of garlic

1/2 bunch of cilantro (less if you don't love cilantro like we do).

4 teaspoons of olive oil

Seed the jalapeno and cut up. Combine ingredients in the blender. If you want the salsa spicier add the seeds left over. 

Black Bean and Sweet Potato Enchiladas

1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed

2  large sweet potatoes cooked, peeled and cubed

1 cup of low fat sour cream

1/2 cup of green salsa

1 teaspoon of cumin

1 tablespoon of chili powder 

1 1/2 teaspoon of garlic

1/2 cup of cheddar cheese

1/2 onion chopped (optional)

dash of salt and pepper

Flour Tortillas

Cooking Spray

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cook onions  in a frying pan with a tablespoon olive oil. Combine cubed black sweet potatoes and black beans together with seasoning and onions. Combine salsa and sour cream. Add more salsa if you like it spicier. Pour half of the creamy sauce in to the bottom of a square pyrex dish. Fill tortillas with potato and bean mixture and place on top of sauce. 

After placing on the tortillas in the dish, spray the tops with cooking spray (this helps to give them a crunch, not mushy, flavor). Cook for 7-10 minutes. Add remaining sauce and cheese. Cook until bubbly.

Cheese Enchiladas 

Last night I was craving cheese enchiladas, but I didn't have a recipe. This is what I came up with and they were really good. The only only thing I didn't like was the color, but since Bill and I throughly enjoyed them I thought I'd share. Plus, they are supper easy.

1 onion minced

1 tablespoon of olive oil

1/teaspoon of pepper 

1/2 teaspoon of cumin

1 tablespoon of garlic

1 can of tomato sauce

1/2 Salsa Verde (noticing a trend??)

3/4 cup of low fat sour cream

1 cup of cheddar cheese

Corn tortillas

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut up and onion and cook over medium high heat until tender. Combine 1/2 of the can of tomato sauce, cumin, garlic, and chili pepper.

Next fill tortillas with cheese, onions, and tomato mixture. The tortillas will crumble, but that's okay. Spray with cooking spray; I use Crisco. Cook for ten minutes.

Next combine remaining tomato sauce, green salsa, and sour cream. I sprinkled more cheese on the top too.

After cooking for ten minutes cover enchiladas with sauce and cook for 15 more minutes.

Jenn and Shanna's Amazing Black-eyed Pea Salsa (picture above)

My friend Jenn shared this recipe with me and it was amazing. When I made it, I did not have a red onion, so I added fresh lime and sugar. I think I will do that again, but I will definitely put in red onion next time too. I think I will probably use cilantro too. It doesn't need it, though!

1 can black-eyed peas, drained

1 can tomatoes (with jalapeno/chilies)

1 pkg Good seasons Italian dressing (dry)

1/2 cup red onion, chopped fine

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1/2 cup olive oil

green peppers, chopped

Mix together and chill.