Over the holidays Evan and I decided to work on a puzzle…just a simple 500 piecer that we borrowed from a friend. We were never big puzzlers in my family… I honestly can’t remember ever completing a puzzle until now. You guys! Did you know puzzles are SO FUN!? I’m obsessed. After we finished the first one, I bought 4 Thomas Kinkade Disney puzzles. I’m a bit of a competitive puzzler, but I also like the camaraderie of a good puzzle sesh. Ya know? I get to a point, though, where we just need to really wrap one up and move on to the next. It’s serious business.
Amanda happens to be a very skilled puzzler, so I invited her over for dinner one night… dinner was really just the carrot I dangled in front of her to force her into puzzling. I mean, dinner wasn’t literally a carrot, it was enchiladas (with carrots), but I wasn’t going to let her leave til the Jungle Book puzzle was complete.
These enchiladas were just a thrown together thing, but turned out so, so good! They’re semi-homemade, with a rotisserie chicken and canned enchilada sauce that we spruce up a bit. I had a big thing of roasted vegetables in the fridge that I made earlier in the week for lunches. You could really use any combo of vegetables, but I highly recommend including sweet potatoes and onions. Below is what I used, but feel free to switch it up. These make an extra large batch, which is perfect for weekday consumption! I hope you know that reading beyond this point makes you contractually obligated to come puzzle at my house…
Chicken and Roasted Vegetable Enchiladas
Makes 24 enchiladas
1 (28 oz) large can red enchilada sauce (I like Herdez brand)
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon cumin
Juice from 1 lime
2 cups roasted vegetables (below)
1 small rotisserie chicken, chicken removed and shredded
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
24 small corn tortillas (taco sized)
2.5 cups shredded cheese (Monterey jack, Colby jack, etc)
1/2 cup sliced black olives
Optional Toppings:
Sour cream (mixed with a little lime juice to thin it out)
Cilantro
Hot sauce
Avocado slices
Crumbled cotija cheese
Fresh sliced radishes
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, whisk together sauce, cocoa powder, cumin, and lime juice. Remove about 3/4 of the sauce and set aside.
Add vegetables, shredded chicken, and black beans to the bowl of 1/4 of the sauce, and toss to mix everything together and coat.
Spread a thin layer of the remaining sauce on the bottom of one large (9x13) or two medium sized (baking dishes 8x8-ish). You should still have a lot of sauce left after doing this.
Warm tortillas: If you don’t have a tortilla warmer, you can wrap them in a damp paper towel and microwave for about 30 seconds.
Put a spoonful of the mixture in each tortilla, with a about a teaspoon of cheese. Roll, and place side by side tightly in the baking dish. Should make about 24 enchiladas Once they’re all rolled up and placed in dish, top with remaining sauce and cheese. Evenly distribute olives over the top.
Bake uncovered for 20-30 minutes, until cheese is super bubbly. Let cool about 10 minutes before serving.
Simple Roasted Vegetables
1 unpeeled small-ish acorn squash, seeded and cut into bitesize pieces
2 yams or sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into bitesize pieces
1 large red onion, halved and sliced into thick wedges
4 large carrots, sliced into bitesized pieces
Olive oil
1 teaspoon of smoked paprika
Heavy pinch of salt & pepper
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Spread squash, yams, onions, and carrots on a baking sheet, and drizzle with olive oil. Toss to coat, and sprinkle with smoked paprika, salt, and pepper.
Roast for about 45-50 minutes (flipping everything once) until the edges are browned but not burnt.
