Concoctchiladas

I was quite proud of this dish, even as concocted as it was. Basically, the goal was to use up the can of enchilada sauce after first using a ½ cup of it for the Mexican Rice, I made. And also to use up anything else I had around, without going to the store.

To that end, I concocted the Enchilada-ish dish you see here. (Someday I will learn to take a photo before digging in or to plate it nicely before snapping the camera.)

Anyway, here's the recipe (at least as best as I can remember it). I'm learning more and more to just "wing it" and encourage you also to do the same:

Concotchiladas

• 2 cups cubed cooked chicken
• 1 can enchilada sauce
• 1 cup shredded cheese
• ½ block cream cheese (4 oz), softened
• 1 large jarred salsa (I used Pace - Medium)
• 1 can refried beans
• 1 cup-ish Mexican rice (Mine was homemade, but could use packaged Lipton or something like that)
• 1 package corn tortillas (any diameter will do; mine were 6", I think.)
• Sour cream (for serving)

1. Preheat oven to 350.
   
2. Mix cubed chicken, cream cheese and a splash of jarred salsa in a bowl.
   
3. Pour enchilada sauce in the base of a greased 8x8 baking dish.
   
4. Layer in some corn tortillas. Cut them to fit into corners.
   
5. Layer the can of refried beans.
   
6. Layer in the chicken mixture.
   
7. Layer more tortillas.
   
8. Pour on a bunch of salsa.
   
9. Sprinkle with shredded cheese.
   
10. Put in oven for about 30 minutes. Allow to cool for at least 7-10 minutes before serving. Add dollop of sour cream to taste.
    

That's it. Only thing I might do differently next time would be to squeeze another layer of tortillas in there somewhere. Otherwise, this is a good new recipe when I'm craving Mexican food – cuz let's face it, most Mexican food is the same 5 ingredients in different shapes and forms anyway, in this case the form of a layered casserole.
Served: 1/7/2010