Friday, November 30, 2007

Variety of Food, Day 30: Green Chicken Enchiladas

On the last day of this month of cooking, I contemplated making some elaborate feast. I thought about doing something amazing -- something that I wouldn't normally fix. And then I realized all my dishes are dirty and my kitchen is a disaster. So, instead I went with my old standby. A crockpot meal.

I don't think most people really understand my obsession with the crockpot. It is, far and away, my favorite kitchen appliance. The ice cream maker may not be far behind, but the crockpot is definitely first. I love the way that you can put a meal together and then forget about it. Then, when you come back into the kitchen you have these amazing smells, and you wonder when house elves moved in. Instead of a house elf, I have a crockpot. It has a green insert with an ivy pattern on the outside, which we got as a wedding gift nearly 10 years ago. I even wrote a haiku for mine.

Green and white vessel --
You create wonderful smells.
I love you, crockpot!

So, tonight, we had a crockpot meal. It may not sound fabulous, but I assure you it was.

Green Chicken Enchiladas
2 pounds chicken, cooked and chopped
1 tbsp oil
2 onions, 1 quartered, 1 chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tsp cumin
28 oz verde sauce
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
12 corn tortillas
I tend to just brown the chicken lightly to cook it. I did that today. Then, put some oil in the pan and cook the chopped onion for 2-3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook another minute. Add the chopped chicken and the cumin and stir through. Remove from the heat. Blend the quartered onion and the green sauce like a crazy person. Then, assemble your enchilada casserole. Start with 1/2 cup of the sauce on the bottom of the insert. Then layer 4 of the tortillas, a third of the chicken mixture, and a third of the cheese. Repeat layers so you have three, and stop with the last of the chicken. Dump whatever sauce is left evenly over the whole thing and top with the last of the cheese. Cook on low for 7 hours.

Don't knock it until you've tried it. Good stuff.

And now it's time for a break. A long enough break to get the kitchen clean. I'm not expecting to cook again before June.

I kid. I've actually already been thinking of how I'll make this little exercise harder the next time I do it. I have some ideas, but we'll just have to see what shakes out. Thanks for taking this little journey with me.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Congratulations. You did it.

Anonymous said...

WOW! One month -- and I think it ended on a BANG!!! I'm printing this one out, I don't want to have to look for this one when I try it next week. I LOVE Green Enchilladas, now I'm going to make them -- never done that before. And in a crockpot!!! I'm so excited. I have a crockpot, but it's usually crock disaster. You made my day! Happy Dec. 1st!

Heather said...

steph, you'll have to let me know how that one works out for you. Not authentic, but easy.

kyle, well, sort of. I did miss one day in there, but all in all I think I did okay.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations! I'm so impressed and inspired that I'm going to try this myself... only I'm doing a week. (I'm just not that ambitious :P)

Heather said...

we've all got to start somewhere!