Chicken and Swiss Chard, Enchilada Style

Yet another phenomenal CSA delivery! Red potatoes, more strawberries (I couldn't help myself and this picture was taken after already eating a bunch of them), french breakfast radishes (which I've never even heard of and look forward to playing with), red onion, baby garlics, salad mix, swiss chard, and a free package of local Noble Coffee Roast!

I've never really cooked swiss chard before, but I know it's popular in Mediterranean dishes - and that it's one of the healthiest leafy greens out there. I did a little research and sure enough, it's phytonutrients are through the roof - especially its ability to help regulate blood sugar. So I'm very excited to be adding it to my diet!

I have some leftover roasted chicken in need of cooking, so I spent some time googling a variety of chicken and chard recipes to get ideas. I found a chicken and chard enchilada recipe that sounded intriguing - certainly not the mediterranean path I was envisioning, but I can't resist an interesting twist on a classic! As my loyal and devoted followers know, James and I make some pretty danglicious enchiladas. I don't have all the ingredients for our enchiladas from scratch, but I do have enough to fake it!

Before we begin, please note the Amy logic: "Oh man, one of the healthiest leafy green veggies you can consume? That's phenomemal! Let's cover it in cheese and sauce!"

On to the recipe. Here's what I had for sauce;

• 1 can tomatoes diced with chiles and spices
• 1 can chipotles in adobo 

For the sauce, I just blended the can of tomatoes with 2 chipotles. You can do more or less depending on the level of heat you desire. I then added 1/4 cup chicken broth and salt to taste. It was delicious - the key here is really those chipotles in adobo sauce.

For the enchiladas:

• 1/2 pound swiss chard
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 small red onion
• 1 chicken breast, shredded
• Chicken broth
• 4 flour tortillas
• Cheddar Cheese

I diced the stems and leaves of about 1/2 pound swiss chard into super fine pieces, keeping the stem pieces and leaf pieces separate. I also diced up two cloves of the garlic and 1 red onion (they're pretty small). I cooked the garlic and onion together until fragrant, then added the chard stems and about 1/4 cup of broth. Cover and simmer for about 5 minutes; add the leaves and cook another 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the leaves are tender as well. 

Drain if necessary, but in mine all the broth cooked away. Transfer to a bowl and stir in your shredded chicken with some salt and pepper to taste.

At around this time, realize you have WAY too much filling to make regular enchiladas and decide to do it casserole style instead! Heat a good layer of oil in your skillet until very hot, then fry the tortillas one at a time until soft and bubbling - this really, truly, takes only about 30 seconds a side. Put aside to drain.

Pour a thin layer of sauce along the bottom of a baking dish - mine was 11x7 - and top with half of the chicken mixture and a layer of cheese. I did not measure my cheese use, but it was enough to cover with a thin single layer of shredded cheese. Spread another layer of sauce, Top with 2 tortillas that slightly overlap. Add another layer of the chicken mix, cheese, and sauce, then top with the last 2 tortillas. Top with more sauce. 

Cover with foil and bake at 350 for about 15 minutes. Remove the foil and spread a layer of cheese on top; throw it back in the oven until the cheese is bubbling. I cooked it for about 10 more minutes and then changed it to the broiler for 1 minute to really brown the top and the tortilla edges.

Top with sour cream and radish guacamole! Here's how I made the guac:

• 1 avocado
• 2 french breakfast radishes, diced fine
• 1 small red onion, diced fine
• Juice of 1/2 a lemon
• Salt

The only ingredient I didn't have that was sad is cilantro. I love cilantro, and if I had it on hand it definitely would have gone in the guacamole. Mash the avocado and stir in the rest. Salt to taste. Announce "YUM!" loud enough to startle kitty so she hides in a box from that day's Amazon delivery.

It was a new coffee maker. We always let her keep boxes for a couple days to play in before we put them out for recycling. 

I didn't take a picture of the casserole before we decimated it - oops! Too eager to eat it. That's why my blog will never be famous, and is really the sole reason.