A month or so ago on Elefantitas Alegres, I extolled the virtues of my hard-earned Enchiladas Verdes con Pollo – a recipe that took me many moons to create and perfect.  Its not the quickest recipe and can be a bit cumbersome, but the end result is so worth the effort!  However, today I found myself seriously craving some spicy, tangy, cheesy, chicken-y goodness… at about 4 p.m.  With no time to slow cook chicken for 6.5 hours and lacking the motivation to coax tortillas into neat tubes, I settled on modifying a recipe from my Williams-Sonoma Food Made Fast: One Pot Meals cookbook…

Original Recipe: “Vegetable Enchiladas,” pg. 52

Hot Dang, Mamacita!  This was amazing!

Now, I’m definitely not shoving my prized Enchiladas Verdes de Pollo to the side!  They really are the best for an authentic Mexican meal at home.  But there is now a special place in my recipe box for this speedy casserole-esque variation as well!

Veggie Chicken Verde Enchiladas*

Ingredients

• 4 c. shredded rotisserie chicken (so easy it should be illegal)
• Corn tortillas (I used 24 of the mini-street-taco size, but the original recipe says 15 eight inchers)
• 2 T. Canola oil
• Salt
• 1 c. Monterrey Jack cheese – shredded
• 1 c. White Cheddar cheese – shredded
• 2 c. corn kernels (I just threw in a whole can)
• 2 zucchini or yellow squash (I used one of each)
• Tomatillo salsa – 2 jars (12.5 oz each)
• 1/2 c. queso fresco or feta (I used feta crumbles)
• 1/2 c. sharp cheddar – shredded

Directions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Brush tortillas with Canola oil and lay on a cookie sheet.  Bake tortillas for 2 to 5 minutes, until slightly crisp.  Remove from oven and lower temperature to 300 degrees.
• Mix chicken, veggies, and the first two cheeses together in a large mixing bowl.
• In a greased pan (I just used olive oil mist) (my pan is a 9 x 13 inch cake pan – my Pyrex didn’t have high enough sides), press a layer of tortillas into the bottom, overlapping and/or shredding to fill gaps if necessary.  Then spread a thin layer of tomatillo salsa over the tortillas.  Over the salsa, add a layer of the chicken/cheese/veggie mix.
• Repeat with another set of layers: tortillas first, salsa second, and chicken mix third.
• Cover the final chicken mix layer with the last tortillas and then, the last of the salsa.
• Sprinkle with the queso fresco (or feta) and sharp cheddar.
• Cover pan with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes.  Remove foil and bake for another 15 or 20 minutes, until cheese is bubbly and edges are browning.

Apologies in regards to the terrible photos… I didn’t realize this recipe would warrant a write-up until after we’d demolished our portions and started packing up the leftovers!

By the way, this is another recipe that produces loads of yummy leftovers (unless you’re feeding a family of 5!)… Yields 6 man-sized portions / 8 normal portions.

* While I added rotisserie chicken, the original recipe is vegetarian-friendly – just chop up another squash or zucchini and add a chopped onion.  I think black beans would also be a great addition!