Butternut Squash, Black Bean and Chicken Enchilladas
Okay... So I have been a SERIOUS slacker when it comes to updating my food blog. I have like 6 pages of chicken scratch, food stained recipes that need to be turned into electronic, organized recipe gold! Because there are some yummy ones on a pad of paper that aren't doing anyone any good! I was just uploading the photos onto my computer when my neighbor and friend texted me that these enchiladas were delicious. I had extras that I was freezing, and she didn't know what she was going to eat for dinner, so I handed her her three frozen "burritos", some left over enchilada sauce and sour cream. With her lovely compliments, I suppose this is the first of my back log that I'm sharing with you. And since they were good frozen and defrosted, if you want to, go ahead and freeze the extras if you don't happen to need 6-7 servings of gooey, tasty Mexican goodness. I've made something vaguely similar before, it was a black bean, butternut squash and goat cheese quesadilla with a roasted poblano and avocado crema. So when I put this together, I was expecting it to be pretty yummy. But it was better! Although the quesadillas were absolutely amazing, these enchiladas have a creamier, saucier feel to them and that was exactly what I was craving. So whether you bake them all or freeze half, definitely write down the ingredients and add them to your shopping list!
Serves 6-8 (This depends on whether someone eats 1 or 2 as a serving. I ate 1, my husband ate 2.)
Ingredients:
12 large flour tortillas 1 chicken breast, shredded 16 oz spinach 5 garlic cloves 1 small butternut squash 1 head cilantro 1 can black beans 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella 1/2 cup goat cheese 2- 2 1/2 cups green enchilada sauce 3/4 cup sour cream cojita, for crumbling salt, to taste pepper, to taste olive oil, for cooking
Instructions: 1. Cook and shred your chicken breast and set it aside. And easy way to cook it is just cutting it in half, boiling it for 10-15 minutes, or until cooked; and then shredding with a fork. Set the shredded chicken breast aside. 2. Peel your butternut squash, and scrape out the seeds. Cube it into 1/2 inch pieces. Lay it on a silicone mat, and sprinkle with salt, and olive oil. Bake for 20 min at 350 degrees. 3. In a large sauté pan, add the garlic, spinach, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook for roughly 5 minutes, or until all of the spinach is wilted. 4. Once the spinach is cooked, just go ahead and dump the other fillings in the pan. If it isn't large enough, transfer to a mixing bowl. (Hey, I'm just trying to save you more dish cleaning!) So, basically, you're stirring the shredded chicken, butternut squash, cooked spinach, black beans, chopped cilantro leaves (leave some for garnish), shredded mozzarella and goat cheese together in a large vessel. 6. Grease a large baking pan, and get ready to assemble. (Depending on how many you're looking to cook, you may want a long, or short Pyrex dish. YOu may decide to fill 5 tortillas or 8. I cooked about 8 tortillas in the long rectangular dish, then individually foil wrapped the remaining 4 tortillas enchiladas and put them in my freezer.) 7. Lay a tortilla flat, and scoop roughly 1/2- 3/4 cup of the filling into a tortilla. Spread it out the length of the tortilla, roll it, and lay it in the pan, seam down. 8. Repeat this process until the baking dish is full. (Assemble and freeze the rest of the tortillas, individually wrap them in foil, then put them all in a freezer ziplock bag.) 9. Plop a tbsp or so of sour cream on top of each roll up and spread evenly over the top. 10. Pour roughly 2 cups of enchilada sauce over all of the enchiladas. (If you're making a smaller batch, use less.) 11. Bake, uncovered, for 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees. 12. Garnish with cilantro and cojita (or another Mexican crumbling cheese like queso fresco.) Enjoy!
