Chicken Enchilada Casserole

I needed a dish to take to a pot-luck dinner. This was one of those affairs where people would be eating with their plates on thier laps - so, I didn't want people to have to deal with chopping away at enchiladas. It is so difficult to cut things on paper plates when you are having to worry about spilling things all over you, or the person next to you.

I came up with this recipe, and it was totally gone by the end of the event. And, it received rave reviews.

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

Frozen chicken tenders
Sunflower oil
Tomatillas (remove the paper covering)
1 Onion, chopped fine
1 Poblano pepper, chopped fine
Garlic (I used about five cloves), minced
Garlic Powder
Cilantro, chopped (leaves only)
Mexican Seasoning
No-Chicken Broth (vegetarian chicken broth)
Gluten-Free tortilla chips, crushed (I used white corn)
Cheese (I used a really sharp, white cheddar)

I cook, a lot, by the seat of my pants. Meaning, much of what I do cannot be reproduced exactly. However, proportions are easily modified for the amount of people to be served.

If you have never worked with tomatillos before, you are in for a pleasant surprise. Although, once removing the paper covering, you will find the tomatillos are sticky, simply clean with a good vegetable cleaner spray and they are good to go.

I use 15 or so medium/large size tomatillos for six chicken tenders. After washing the tomatillos I rough chop them. They do not have to be minced fine as they will break down during cooking.

In a heavy Dutch Oven, with a lid, saute the onion and garlic, in sunflower oil, until the onion is translucent. I actually like to let the onion begin to carmalize. I think that adds a lovely nutty flavor to the dish, but be careful to not burn the garlic.

Once the onion/garlic mixture is ready, add the tomatillos and saute about three minutes. You aren't really looking for a change in the tomatillos but I like to let them start to break down by a quick saute. Then, add the No-Chicken broth. Let come to a gentle simmer.

At this point you want enough liquid in the pot to cover the chicken tenders you are going to add.

Add the chicken. (I used frozen chicken tenders and didn't bother to defrost them first.)

Bring back to a gentle simmer and cover the pot. Let the chicken cook until done.

Once the chicken is cooked all the way through, take out the chicken pieces and place them in a bowl. You can do this in stages. Shred the chicken with two forks. You want shreds, not chunks of chicken.

Return the shredded chicken to the pot.

Add garlic powder (can never have too much garlic - and this allows for layering of flavors). Add cilantro and Mexican Seasoning.

Add the crushed tortilla chips. Don't add too many or they will soak up all the liquid in your pot. If that happens, add more No-Chicken broth.

There is no salt added to this recipe as the tortilla chips add quite a bit of salt.

This is where your preferences come into play. I like a really thick mixture and as such add a lot of tortilla chips. If you like things more on the thin side, add the chips really slowly and see how much liquid is being soaked up by them.

Turn the mixture down to low, cover and let simmer about an hour. You want the flavors to have a chance to blend.

You can put the mixture in the refrigerator before you add the chips and let it sit overnight. That works really well too.

You can add the cheese in two ways - either shredded and melted into the mixture, or on top of the mixture after spooned into bowls.

Enjoy with sour cream or good yogurt if desired.

This recipe is really great over rice.