Chicken Enchilada Bake

Here I am back from vacation and cooking again!  I have had this recipe saved in my Pinterest Low Carb board for a while and tonight seemed like the perfect night to try it.  I wanted something fairly easy to make and this was it!  

The recipe comes from a Low Carb page but you could definite serve it over rice.  The recipe is Mexican Chicken from Linda's Low Carb Menus & Recipes.  As usual, I changed it up just a bit, adding black olives.  

I simply took out chicken tenderloins out of the freezer.  It was about 7-8 tenderloins, just enough to cover my 8"x8" square baking dish.  I really enjoy using the chicken tenderloins because they are smaller so they cook a bit faster.  They are really nice for a quick dinner when you get home from work.  

 

To my chicken tenderloins, I added some taco seasoning and a bit of fajita seasoning.  I use Fiesta brand of both these spice mixes & buy them in Texas.  I let the tenderloins thaw and marinate with the seasoning on them.  When it was time to get dinner started, I placed about two-thirds of my package of Green Chile Enchilada sauce on the chicken (probably about a cup - more than the recipe called for) and put it uncovered in a 350 degree oven.  The sauce I chose to use this time was Frontera's Green Chile Enchilada Sauce but use your favorite.  I had bought this on a whim and it was very good.  I also like Hatch's Green Chile Enchilada Sauce.  I think this recipe would also be good with red chile sauce too.  I did choose to bake my chicken instead of saute or grill, just because I bake chicken fairly often and it is easy.  Although grilling would have added another layer of yummy flavor!  After the chicken was almost done (approximately 30 min), I flipped each tenderloin and placed the remainder of the enchilada sauce on top.  I then put a few black olives (my addition to the recipe) on top of the chicken and topped them off with shredded cheese (which I did not measure and probably used more than the 4 oz the recipe called for).  I put the chicken back in the oven for 10 minutes at 400 to get the cheese bubbly and slightly browned.  If I had had green onions in the house, I would have added them to the chicken at the end but alas we were out. 

We really enjoyed this chicken and will be making it again for sure.  I served it with some refried Anasazi Beans (a type of bean grown by the Anasazi native americans) and cauliflower-zucchini mash.  These beans are my favorite type of bean and are similar to a pinto bean but a little creamier to me.  I love them!  Anyway, I plan on making this chicken again and it will be something I make when I want a quick dinner after a long day at work.  Enjoy!