Spicy or Mild? Green Chili Enchiladas and Pico de Gallo
April 19, 2013
Having just returned from Mexico with my family, I thought I would go with a Mexican theme this week. And then lo and behold, one of my favorite food websites, OurBestBites, posted a simple carne asada recipe. It seems really easy and you can freeze the leftovers (if there are any) and make several meals out of it. Here are some additional Mexican-inspired recipes – to eat on their own or to enjoy with carne asada tacos.
Stuffed Chili Peppers
And THEN, in our Bountiful Basket for this week, we got chili peppers and avocados. The best way to deal with the skin on chili peppers, is to roast them. This also gives them a nice smoky flavor. oat each chili pepper with a little bit of oil. Place them on a foil covered cookie sheet and put under the broiler. Set the timer for 5 minutes and then turn them. Watch them carefully at this point as they will burn easily. Keep turning them until all the skin is browned on all sides, and just beginning to pull away from the pepper. Remove them from broiler and place them in a plastic bag. Seal it shut and let the steam do it’s job for at least 30 minutes. You should now be able to remove the skin and seeds easily.
So, what to do with those chili peppers? Here are some tasty ideas:
- Chop them up and use them in salsa or pico de gallo.
- Make an egg casserole and add them for flavor.
- Use them whole and stuff them. (You can even freeze them for later). Take cream cheese add chopped green onions. Stuff this into the chili (use a pastry bag) and wrap with a piece of bacon. Seal it with a toothpick. Grill the stuffed peppers on your grill or in a pan turning until the bacon is cooked. You can also add sausage or other meat if you want.
Flat Green Chili Cheese Enchiladas
These delicious enchiladas can be served immediately or frozen for several meals.
Ingredients:
- 12 corn tortillas
- 1 pound sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1 pound mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 2 bunches green onions, chopped
- 1 yellow onion
- 1 28 ounce green enchilada sauce
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Heat a little bit of oil in a saucepan.
- Dip the tortillas in the oil (until they bubble up a little) and place on paper towel.
- Grease a 13×9 inch baking dish or two smaller baking/pie dishes.
- Pour the green enchilada sauce into a saucepan.
- Spoon a little bit into the baking dish.
- Dredge 4 tortillas through the enchilada sauce and layer on bottom of baking dish.
- Put a third of the cheeses and onions over the tortillas.
- Spoon a little of the enchilada sauce over this layer.
- Repeat this 3 times.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes.
- They can be a little soupy so you may want to not use all the enchilada sauce. Let them rest for about 5 minutes.
Pico de Gallo
Pico de gallo is a perfect addition to all your Mexican-inspired meals.
Ingredients:
- 28 ounce can peeled tomatoes (or use fresh if you want)
- 2 large bunches of green onions, chopped
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 16 ounces diced green chilis
- ½ bunch cilantro, chopped
- 1 tablespoon chili tepins (finely ground) or pequins if you can’t find tepins
- Add the following to taste:
- Pepper
- Salt
- Garlic powder
- Onion powder
- Pinch of oregano
- Dash of vinegar
Mix all ingredients together. Be careful with the tepins because that is where the heat is going to come from.
Mexican food can be mild or spicy – your choice. Time for a Mexican fiesta!
photo credit: OakleyOriginals via photopin cc
