Black Beans Chicken Enchiladas

Today, I was very productive at work and when I was all done, I decided that a good meal would be a good reward for me. So, I went with my go-to meal, Mexican! I actually talked to a Mexican as well, my friend Nick, and he suggested something in the casserole family. Although, if you knew me, you would know that I'm not the hugest fan of casseroles. But he did give me the idea of utilizing the oven, so I deduced that enchiladas would be a good Mexican dish for the evening.

I then immediately craved black beans, so they would be my main superstar. Then, I used the Food Network to find a good black beans enchilada. I confessed to my sister and my friend Bianca, on gchat, that I had been searching for about half an hour for the perfect black beans enchilada and none sufficed. You would think that with the internet at my finger tips I'd be able to find one, but instead, I found one to mimic and alter.

Main superstar:
The supporting cast:



And yes, Elise, that totally says "Soy" on the label. Proud? I chose soy because if you read yesterday's post, then combine the fact that I'm lactose intolerant, you would do the same thing. No messing with lactaid pills tonight.

I also conjured up Ate Pammy's salsa recipe. She posted it in a comment on This is for Porter. Although, I have to confess, "Ate, I did not do your salsa justice because I didn't use ripe tomatoes and used lemon instead of lime. It was a bit sour at first, then I had to pour out half of the Magic Bullet blended goodness so I could add riper tomatoes and half an avocado as well. I also put some cayenne pepper and paprika for a more reddish color. It's not as good as how you make it."

Ok, with that confession out of the way, here's the list of what I used for my fillers:

• 1 can of black beans, drained
  
• 1 chicken breast, cubed
• 1/2 a red onion
• a clove or two of crushed garlic
• homemade salsa (not as good as Ate's)
  
• 1/2 can of corn
• 1/2 can of water chestnuts, quartered (inspired by the chicken enchilada Sandra makes cuz she adds these to them and cuz they were leftover from the other night)
  
• a couple bunches of roughly chopped cilantro
• paprika
• cayenne pepper
• cumin
  
• s & p
• extra virgin olive oil
  

I cooked the chicken with the garlic and onions first and threw in the powdered spices. When the chicken was nearly done, I added the black beans and my homemade salsa. Then just before turning the burner off, I added the corn, water chestnuts and the cilantro.
Sorry a bit blurry. Then toss when burner is off.
I used half of this mix to put into my tortillas since I only wanted to make a few for tonight and lunch the next day. The rest of the mix will be used as a separate meal, or maybe with other sides for another night. I was able to "roll" 5 of these blue corn tortillas and I use quotation marks because they did not stay rolled. I can say with confidence that I will not be using corn tortillas in the future. While they are tasty, there were some major cracking of the tortillas after I had placed them in dish, seam side down. No problema though, I just covered up the evidence with the soy cheese goodness.
Um, ya, I slathered on the soy cheese. I mean, even if it was real cheese and there wasn't tortilla break-age, I'd still coat this with cheese like it's my j-o-bizzle. Oh ya, so as not to have them stick on the dish, I added some of the salsa on the bottom before placing the enchiladas on top.

Side note: Preheat oven to 400 degrees and bake for 15mins or until cheese has melted to your liking.
Looks good, doesn't it?! Job well done you!
Confession: This was actually the second plating of the enchilada because the first one didn't have as much color. I ended up adding chopped tomatoes and cilantro to garnish. What did I do with the first plate you ask? Um, I ate it of course! Soy cheese, you're my favorite new lover, well, second to Jamie Oliver that is.

Totally tooting my own horn here, but I want to share that my mama had some with me as a "snack" after just having dinner. And we may have left just barely enough leftovers for a lunch to pack for myself tomorrow.

Result = Happy Belly.

Operation Moderation = A big fat ZERO for the day.