Today was a “Grey Day” for me. Grey days are when there are a lot of clouds in the sky, no rain and everything seems dark. Days like these, all I want to do is sleep. On days like these, no amount of coffee will wake me up and there is a feeling of heaviness in the air.
Because of the grey day, I decided that things needed to be spice up. I have not made any Mexican styled foods in a while and I think that is exactly what we need! For this recipe, I decided to go with canned enchilada sauce but I will be sharing later, a good enchilada sauce recipe. I made my homemade tortillas (you can certainly make your own) which as so easy to make! I learned how to make them while I was living in Belize. I remember my roommate and I taking study breaks to snack on fresh tortillas.
Mexican Chicken Lasagna
Ingredients:
2 cups of diced or shredded chicken
1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon of ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
2 tablespoons of fresh chopped cilantro
1 (15 oz) can of black beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup of diced jalapeno **See note 1**
1 (10 oz) can of enchilada sauce
6 (6 inch) flour/corn tortillas **Gluten Sensitivity Suggestion See Note 2)
2 cups of Mexican blend cheese
1 (8 oz) container of sour cream
Directions:
- If using raw chicken, dice and season with cumin, coriander and garlic powder
- Preheat oven to 375F
- Spray a large skillet with cooking spray and saute chicken until cooked, on medium heat (If you are using precooked chicken, heat through with spices)
- Stir in cilantro, black beans and jalapeno
- Spread half the enchilada sauce on the bottom of your baking dish and place 4 tortillas (overlapping) over it.
- Spoon half the chicken mixture over the tortillas and then half the cheese and dot on half the sour cream.
- Add a layer of sauce, tortilla and chicken and cover with aluminum foil
- Bake for 30 minutes
- Remove cover and sprinkle remaining cheese and dot on remaining sour cream
- Bake until cheese is all melted (about 5 -10 minutes)
- Let it stand for 10 minutes before serving.
Note 1:
When dealing with jalapeno, I highly suggest you wear gloves. You can easily get disposable gloves at any store. If you do not want the major heat from the jalapeno, remove the seeds and inner membranes. This is where most of the heat is located. As always, you can increase or reduce the amount of jalapeno in this recipe to your taste.
Note 2:
For those with gluten sensitivity, not all corn tortillas are gluten-free. Be careful! However, I have some good news for you. They are super easy to make! Just make sure that the Masa Harina (corn flour found in the Spanish aisle) by reading the ingredients (in case they try to sneak some gluten in). Normally, it is just made with cooked whole grains of corn that are ground and dried.
Ingredients:
1 3/4 cup of masa harina
1 1/8 cup of water
Directions:
- Combine water and masa harina and knead (if dough is sticky, add more masa harina, if too dry, add more water)
- Allow dough to stand, covered for 30 minutes
- Preheat griddle or heavy-duty frying pan on medium-high
- Divide dough into 15 equal sized balls and using your hands, rolling-pin or press, roll ball of dough flat between two plastic wrap sheets.
- Place tortilla on heated pan and cook until browned both sides.
- Keep tortillas covered with a towel to stay warm and moist until ready to use or serve
Samina Cooks 