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!

Pesto Grilled Chicken

Next up in my pesto-mania:  Pesto Grilled Chicken.  This recipe is actually the reason I wanted to make fresh pesto but the pizza came first in pesto use!  I get recipes & coupons from my local grocery story, King Soopers.  For you Easterners, it is the same company as Kroger.  Anyway, they had sent me a recipe for Spicy Grilled Pesto Chicken.  I am not sure why they named it spicy because it isn't spicy at all to me but it was very tasty!  As always, I didn't follow the recipe completely so here is the recipe and then I will tell you what I did. 

Spicy Grilled Pesto Chicken
     from King Soopers

1/4 c fresh parsley
1 tsp black pepper
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp Pesto
1 large resealable food storage bag
1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs, thawed (approximately 4 medium to large thighs)

Wash & de-stem parsley, and chop until finely minced for about 30 seconds in a food processor.  Combine the well-chopped parsley with freshly ground pepper, Worcestershire sauce and pesto in a large resealable plastic bag.  Mix the ingredients well with a spoon, and/or by squeezing closed bag with hands.

Add thawed chicken, one piece at a time, into the bag, making sure to coat each piece thoroughly.  Marinate chicken in a bag for 15 to 30 minutes at room temperature or in the fridge.  Remove pieces with tongs and grill for 12 to 15 minutes, turning once, until the internal temperature reaches a safe 165 degrees F.

For a refreshing summer side dish to balance the sizzle of the grilled chicken, serve with chilled pickled vegetables.  Refrigerate any leftovers.  Serves 4. 

So here is what I did.  :)  I didn't have parsley so out the window that went.  I also am not a big fan of dark meat so we used chicken breasts.  Drew might have preferred I used the thighs.  Next time!  I used 4 pretty large chicken breasts and thawed them for a couple of hours.  I mixed the pesto (about 2 heaping Tbsp since I didn't use the parsley), black pepper, Worcestershire sauce and a few dashes of lemon juice (another veer from the recipe!) in my gallon bag and added the chicken breasts.  The chicken was mostly thawed but not completely.

I mixed the chicken breasts around in the bag and got them coated well and then let them marinate for quite a bit longer than the original recipe.  I probably let them marinate for 2 to 2.5 hours.  I turned the bag a few times during the marination time to make sure the flavors soaked in evenly.   Then I grilled them up!  As I was grilling the chicken, I did slowly add some of the marinade back on to the chicken to keep it moist and add more pesto flavor.

Drew & I really enjoyed this chicken and I foresee us making it again. Plus we had leftovers for lunch.  :) It was juicy and very flavorful, a definite YUM!