June 23, 2011: White Enchilada Lasagna Recipe

This is a recipe I made up on the fly, wanting to do something with ground beef other than make hamburgers, and keeping in mind that both my husband and my niece don’t particularly care for hot chile sauces. The result is this combination of enchiladas and lasagna (hey - don’t knock it till you’ve tried it!).

White Enchilada Lasagna

1 pound ground beef
1 small Yukon gold potato, cooked, peeled, and finely diced
1 T. minced garlic (try dehydrated garlic for extra garlic flavor)
1 T. taco seasoning mix
1 t. flour
½ medium-sized onion, coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic
1 T. dried cilantro
1 t. ground cumin
1 large or 2 small green chiles, roasted, peeled and de-seeded
6 ounces cream cheese, softened
2/3 cup chicken stock
Salt and pepper to taste
6 soft taco size flour tortillas
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13 x 9” pan.

Cook the ground beef in a skillet over medium heat until no longer pink; drain most of the fat. Add the potato and cook for another minute. Reduce heat to low and add garlic, taco seasoning, and flour. Cook just until heated through; remove from heat.

Combine onion, garlic, cilantro, cumin and green chile in bowl of food processor. Pulse until finely chopped. Add cream cheese and chicken stock; process until smooth. Stir in salt and pepper and taste; adjust seasoning if necessary.

Warm the flour tortillas in damp paper towels in the microwave for one minute, or until warm and softened. Spread about ¼ cup of the cream cheese sauce in the bottom of the greased baking pan. Take each tortilla and add 1/6th of the meat mixture. Roll up and place, seam side down in the prepared pan. Continue with all tortillas and meat mixture. Pour remaining sauce over the top and sprinkle with cheese. Cover the pan with foil and bake for about 30 minutes, until the sauce is bubbling and the cheese is melted.

Top with diced tomatoes, fresh cilantro sprigs, and sour cream, if desired.

Serves 6.

April 28, 2011: Chicken Casserole Recipe

This is an easy, simple, tasty casserole for those nights when you aren’t feel particularly creative about dinner (which I’ve been experiencing a lot lately); just add a fresh green salad and maybe some crusty bread and voila! You can easily double this recipe and have enough to feed a family of four or five (use a 13 x 9 inch pan). And because it still tastes good even when it’s not hot, it makes a great dish to contribute to a potluck meal.

I first found this recipe in an issue of American Profile and the recipe is attributed to Elaine Arnold. As usual, I’ve done just a wee bit of tweaking and here’s my version.

Chicken Casserole

2 large chicken breasts, boiled and shredded
2 small stalks celery, finely chopped (optional)
1 8-ounce can water chestnuts, drained
1/3 cup sliced almonds
1 2-ounce jar pimientos
2 T. minced onion (can use dehydrated)
½ to ¾ cup light mayonnaise (depends on how much chicken you have)
2 T. lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste
French fried onions (the kind in a can)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a medium-sized casserole dish or 8 x 8 inch square pan.

Combine all ingredients (through salt and pepper) and mix well. Start with half a cup of mayonnaise and add more if necessary (too much mayo makes this casserole taste very greasy). Place the mixture into the prepared pan; top with French fried onions and shredded cheese. Cover the dish and bake for 30 minutes.

Tip: Feel free to add/substitute other vegetables. For instance, I’ve used diced red bell pepper in place of the pimientos before and mushrooms instead of celery. You could also add mandarin orange slices and bean sprouts to make it more “Chinese”. My husband doesn’t like nuts so I omit the almonds; it would also taste good if you substituted pecans or cashews for the almonds. Experiment with the ingredients your family likes best.