Chicken Enchilada Casserole

Mexican food has to be my favorite type food. And in "celebration" of Taco Tuesday, we had Mexican last night. This recipe was found at Gimme Some Oven. I did tweek it a little bit. It was really easy to put together. It's layered kind of like a lasagna. Instead of noodles, it uses corn tortillas.

For the chicken, you could use a rotisserie chicken and just shred it. I had a bunch of chicken breasts, so I put a few in the crock pot with some chicken stock. That way I just had to shred it when I came home.  Instead of three cups of enchilada sauce, I used two bags of Frontera Red Chile Enchilada Sauce. This was plenty and not too spicy.

I used 2 cups of a shredded mix of Mexican cheeses from Kraft. For the top, I used Mexican crumbling cheese, aka queso fresco. Of course I'm the only one in my family that likes avocados, so I waited to put those on mine instead of "contaminating" the rest of the casserole. I ate way too much, it was so good!

Recipe

• 2 bags Frontera red chile sauce
• 16 corn tortillas, halved
• 1 (15 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
• 3 scallions (green onions), thinly sliced
• 4 cups (about 1.5 pounds) shredded cooked chicken
• 2 cups shredded Monterrey Jack or Mexican blend cheese
• 1 cup queso fresco (Mexican crumbling cheese)
• 1 avocado, peeled, pitted and diced
• 1/2 cup loosely-packed chopped fresh cilantro

DIRECTIONS:

Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare a 9x13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.

Pour about a half a bag of enchilada sauce in the baking dish, and spread until the bottom of the dish is coated. Top with a layer of about 8 tortilla halves so that the entire dish is covered. Sprinkle evenly with about  half of the black beans, half the corn and a third of the green onions. Then sprinkle with half of the chicken, and about one cup shredded cheese. Repeat with a second layer of tortillas, then sauce, then beans, corn, green onions, chicken, and cheese. Then conclude with a final layer of tortillas and the second bag of sauce (reserving the queso fresco to add part way through baking). Cover the pan with aluminum foil, then bake for 20 minutes.

Remove pan and remove aluminum foil. Sprinkle the top of the enchiladas evenly with the queso fresco, then return to the oven (uncovered) and bake for 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Remove pan, and sprinkle with avocado, cilantro, and remaining green onions. Serve warm.

Enjoy!

Beware... the mustard!

This summer has tested my gluten knowledge and assertiveness. I have done a lot of traveling, so I wasn’t always able to make my own food. I feel so much safer when I make my own food in my own home. But sometimes you don’t have a choice and have to rely on others. And sometimes, I just make stupid mistakes!

I went to a convention in Texas. During the convention, my lunch and dinner was included. I was able to request gluten-free meals and the whole buffet where I got my food was gluten-free. So, there was no chance of cross contamination by people getting their food. The food was really good and my friends with the regular meals were jealous.

Before the convention, I had a couple of meals on my own. I was pleasantly surprised that a Mexican restaurant I went to have a gluten-free menu. The waiter was very knowledgeable and the food was delicious.

Another restaurant I went to claimed to have a gluten-free menu.

The main menu had options listed on both sides. The little white one in the corner is the gluten-free menu: isn’t this the cutest little menu (dripping with sarcasm)?!?! It was more what they could remove from dishes to make it gluten-free, but of course you still had to pay full price.  I was not feeling too confident with their ability to prevent cross contamination. I opted for just some vanilla ice cream covered with strawberries.

As for flying, I brought snacks for the plane. I was traveling extremely early on the way to TX and didn't really need a meal. I ate supper at Dallas, Love Field (which is a beautiful little airport). I had a tasty spread at a cafe. The zebra is one of my boys' toys, which they named Sully. He made several appearances in photos to my boys while I was away from them.

I went on a vacation to visit family in CT. Since I flew from my convention in TX, I didn’t have to deal with restaurants on the road. While in CT, my in-laws bought one of everything Live G Free at Aldi. Yes, it was a little overboard, but it was nice to have those options available. ;) An Italian restaurant said they could make everything gluten free except for the pasta. So, when the soup came, I asked if there was pasta in it. Of course there was, so I went without. When the salad came, I had ordered oil and vinegar for salad dressing, so I knew that was safe. I ate a third of my salad and found croutons hiding at the bottom of the bowl. I figure the salad was premade and they must have just taken them off my salad, without realizing there were more there. I was not happy! I also learned to ask how drinks are being made instead of assuming they will be okay.

Driving home from CT, I had a bunch of snacks. I did find a good meal at Applebee’s.

Then came our camping trip. I had all our meals planned out, but apparently failed to check the label on the mustard. After eating it for three days, and swallowing that last bite of my wrap on the third day, I noticed the words, “wheat flour” on the back of my husband’s favorite mustard. Ahh! I had been getting heartburn every night and on that day, had it all day. My whole body hurt on day two. These are the same symptoms I noticed from my gluten encounter in CT. But it was so much worse this time, most likely because I had multiple gluten encounters. Dun, dun, dunnnnn….! I still have heartburn every time I swallow. Today, my husband asked when I’m going to a doctor. I suppose after a week of it not going away. Any fellow Celiacs or people with gluten intolerance have similar symptoms?

I’ve learned a lot of lessons this summer. I hope I can avoid future gluten encounters (cue the horror music!).