A Lighter Enchilada

It's hard to find good Mexican food here in Dubai, and it's almost impossible to find "healthy" Mexican food anywhere. When I came across this recipe for chicken enchiladas at skinnytaste.com, I figured it would be worth a try.

Chicken Enchiladas (my changes are in italics)

For the sauce:

• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1-2 tbsp chipotle chilis in adobo sauce
• 1-1/2 cups tomato sauce
• 1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder (used cayenne)
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 3/4 cup fat free chicken broth
• kosher salt and fresh pepper to taste

For the chicken:

• 1 tsp vegetable oil
• 8.5 oz (2 breast halves) cooked shredded chicken breast
• 1 cup diced onion
• 2 large clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup cilantro
• kosher salt
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp chipotle chili powder (used cayenne)
• 1/3 cup chicken broth
• 1/2 cup tomato sauce
• 8 (6-inch) reduced carb whole wheat flour tortillas (used 8 inch tortillas)
• 1 cup shredded low fat Mexican cheese (used full fat Mexican cheese)
• Nonstick cooking spray

In a medium saucepan, spray oil and sauté garlic. Add chipotle chiles, chili powder, cumin, chicken broth, tomato sauce, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 5-10 minutes. Set aside until ready to use.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Heat the vegetable oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Sauté onions and garlic on low until soft, about 2 minutes. Add chicken, salt, cilantro, cumin, oregano, chili powder, tomato sauce, chicken broth, and cook 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

Spray a 13 by 9-inch glass baking dish with non-stick spray. Put 1/3 cup chicken mixture into each tortilla and roll it. Place on baking dish seam side down. Top with sauce and cheese. Cover with aluminum foil and bake in the oven on the middle rack for 20-25 minutes. Top with low fat sour cream or scallions if you wish. (Extra points) Makes 8 enchiladas.

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In this recipe, I had to sub some ingredients for what I already had in the kitchen. I failed to notice that 6-inch tortillas were required and I had bought 8-inch ones instead so this recipe barely eked out seven enchiladas, and they were very scanty ones at that. So because of the extra carbs and the full fat cheese, it made these 4 points each instead of 3 points like the original recipe states. Still, not too shabby!

As for flavor, these were pretty good, although a bit too much cilantro for my taste (though Kevin liked it). When I make these again, I'll use a little bit more chicken, a low fat cheese so I can make them cheesier without sacrificing points, less cilantro, and of course, the smaller tortillas.

I should probably also mention that while cooking this, I had a beer can fall out of the fridge and explode everywhere, I dropped several sauce covered utensils on the floor, and had a lecture from my husband about not using a steel spoon to stir ingredients in a Teflon skillet.