Chicken Nanahottoe

Since I was in elementary school, I've loved chicken enchiladas. I tried to write about them in first grade and spelled it like chicken nana-hot-toe - so my family called it that for years!

Well, last night I realized that I hadn't planned anything for dinner and since we had just had a birthday, I didn't feel comfortable with us spending the money to go out to eat. So! (I was so proud of myself) I searched through the pantry to see what I could come up with. I went to myrecipes.com and searched for some of the ingredients I had and chicken enchiladas looked like a GREAT recipe! I made it and we both LOVED it, so I thought I'd share. We even have plenty left over for lunch today too - yum! (next time I'll half it)

** I switched out the swiss cheese for cheddar because that's what I had. I also added black beans and mexican rice (only because I had both and I love both).

Yield

6 servings (serving size: 1 enchilada and about 1/3 cup sauce)

Ingredients

• Cooking spray
• 1 1/2 cups chopped onion
• 2 cups chopped roasted skinless, boneless chicken breast (about 2 breasts)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 (4.5-ounce) cans diced green chiles, undrained
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can petite diced tomatoes, undrained
• 2 cups 2% reduced-fat milk
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 (8-inch) fat-free flour tortillas
• 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Swiss cheese, divided

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add onion; cook 5 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in chicken, garlic, chiles, and tomatoes. Reduce heat, and simmer 7 minutes or until liquid evaporates. Set aside.

Combine milk and flour in a small saucepan over medium-high heat; cook 5 minutes or until mixture thickens, stirring constantly with a whisk. Stir in salt.

Warm tortillas according to package directions. Spoon about 1/2 cup chicken mixture and about 2 1/2 tablespoons cheese down center of each tortilla; roll up. Arrange filled tortillas in the bottom of a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Pour milk mixture over tortillas, and top evenly with remaining 1 cup cheese. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until cheese is bubbly. Remove from oven.

Preheat broiler.

Broil casserole for 3 minutes or until cheese begins to brown.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 419 (28% from fat)

Fat: 13.2g (sat 7.9g,mono 3.7g,poly 0.8g)

Protein: 33.2g

Carbohydrate: 41.8g

Fiber: 4.3g

Cholesterol: 79mg

Iron: 2.1mg

Sodium: 726mg

Calcium: 474mg

On a totally random side note: not only was I proud that I whipped up a good tasting dinner from random things in my pantry but this made me feel like I'm growing up too: I always thought my mom had an amazing ability to know exactly which container to put her left overs in. I always, always guess that things should go in something that is too small, so I spill things or get a container dirty for no reason, or way too big and I waste tons of space. Mom could always pick the container and the left overs fit PERFECTLY. Well, after David's birthday dinner I was putting the left overs in containers for David's lunch and I somehow picked exactly the right sizes for EACH food. It was incredible! To the last drop, it fit each container as if it was made specifically for that meal's left overs. I smiled as I realized what I had accomplished.