Tasty Tuesday!!

Since I was a kid I would eat pretty much everything. I have never been picky. I am lucky that two of my children are the same way. I mean they will enjoy a piece of sushi with me, and some veggies with hummus, while drinking  kale smoothie. It is awesome!! Unfortunately my husband and my oldest son are not this way. They are two of the pickiest people on the planet. It sometimes makes it difficult especially when you want to get healthy stuff in them. So how do I make sure that the two picky eaters in my life get the good stuff like us non-picky people? The answer I put the healthy stuff in with their favorite things. Now my husband knows I do this so I am not revealing some big hush hush secret. Sometimes, however I can fool him, and sometimes he can tell right away. It is all just a matter of tweaking the recipes. I have previously shared my way to get some veggies in with meatballs. We had those last night with quinoa pasta in fact, and they were yummy. So here is another recipe that you can get some more healthy stuff in those picky eaters.

If your family is anything like mine then they love enchiladas. It is seriously one of my husbands favorite foods. He would be happy if I made it twice a week or more. The problem is between the sauce and all that cheese it is so fattening. So here is a "lighter" version that I use. I still use it as a "special" meal and not a once  week meal. The big thing is to make your own sauce and not use the sodium ridden canned sauce, which I know is much much easier. I like my enchiladas with the red and green sauce mixed together. You can choose just one of the sauces if you like that better. I used all fresh organic ingredients in these.


Lightened up enchiladas

Red sauce
1 tbsp olive oil

2 cloves minced garlic

1 tsp minced onion

1/2 tsp dried oregano

21/2 tsps chili powder

1/2 tsp dried basil

1/8 tsp black pepper (ground)

1/8 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp parsley (dried)

1/4 cup diced tomatoes

1/4 cup red bell pepper

1/4 cup diced yellow squash

6 ozs no salt added organic tomato sauce

11/2 cups water

Put your tomatoes, squash and red bell pepper in the food processor. In a large saucepan heat up the olive oil. Then add the garlic and onion. Saute for about a minute or two. Then add the rest of the ingredients, including the tomato, squash and bell pepper except the water. Mix it all together in the pan and add the water. Let it come to a boil. Then reduce it to simmer and let cook for about 15-20 minutes.

Green Sauce

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, smashed and minced

1 pound green tomatillos, husked, washed and sliced into quarters

1/2 to 1 jalapeno pepper, seeds and ribs removed (depending on how hot you like it!)

1 large poblano pepper, seeds removed and cut into large chunks

1 avocado

1 c spinach (you can use kale as well)

juice of 1 lime

handful of fresh cilantro

4 cups no salt added vegetable broth

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

 

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a heavy bottomed saucepan over medium high heat. Add the onion and garlic and saute until soft, about 5 minutes. While the onions and garlic are working, throw the tomatillos, cilantro, jalapeno, poblano, avocado, spinach or kale and lime juice into the blender. Blend on high speed until smooth, adding the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil to get things moving. Pour the tomatillo mixture in with the onions and garlic. Add the vegetable broth, cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper and whisk to combine. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Allow to simmer on low heat for about an hour to thicken the sauce. If desired, blend with an immersion blender or throw the mixture back into the regular blender for a smoother sauce. This sauce takes a little longer to make, but it is worth it!!

Enchiladas

2 lbs organic boneless, skinless chicken breast (you can also do turkey, beef, tofu, beans, or no meat at all)

1 tbsp. coconut oil

1 tablespoon chili powder                                                    

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder                                                    

1/4 teaspoon onion powder                                                    

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon paprika                                                    

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin                                                                     

1 teaspoon black pepper

red enchilada sauce
green enchilada sauce
About 2-4c (depends on how cheesy you like it) cheese (whichever kind you prefer. I like organic cheese and will shred it myself. Seriously don't buy the already shredded. I used to, but no longer do. Also I get full fat cheese and not the low fat or fat free. That is just full of chemicals.)

40 fajita size tortillas (whatever kind you like, homemade (I will post that recipe another day), whole grain, Ezekiel, corn, flour)

Preheat the oven to 375. Heat up the coconut oil in a large saucepan. Then add the chicken (or whatever meat you prefer. If you are doing just cheese you can skip this step) and cook probably about 10 minutes or so. You want to try to shred the chicken as much as possible (if you have done a ground meat you don't have to worry). Drain the meat and return to the pan and add all the spices to it with about 1/2c water. Let the meat simmer for about 5-10 minutes or so. I usually use 2 big cake pans for my enchiladas. The good thing about this recipe is you can cut it in half and have less or easily double it for more. You should have plenty of leftovers. If you do the 2 pans you can have one for dinner and freeze the other one for an easy meal another night.

In your cake pans cover the bottom with some red and green sauce (if you are just doing one sauce then cover with that one sauce) take your tortilla and fill with the meat and a little bit of cheese (not a whole lot because you will also be topping it with cheese. Of course if you are doing just cheese you can add a little bit more). Then roll up the tortilla. Repeat this step for the remaining tortillas. I can usually get about 20 tortillas in one pan. After rolling them top with green sauce and red sauce (or whichever you choose). Top that with as much cheese as you would like then top again with the sauces. Bake for 30 minutes. You want the cheese to be melted and your tortillas to brown a little. You can cook less time if you would like because your meat is already cooked so you do not have to worry about that, or more time if you like your cheese melted a little more. You just judge how you like it.

This recipe is a little time consuming, which is another reason why I do not make it all the time. As you can see with all that cheese it is definitely not an everyday kind of meal. The leftovers you can freeze or eat the next day for lunch (which I think is usually better after it has sat a little while). I like to top mine with a little full-fat plain Greek yogurt, salsa verde, black olives and avocado and tomatoes. You can serve with some Spanish rice and/or black beans, but as filling as it is you really do not need it. See how many vegetables we got in there, and your picky people won't even be able to tell.

* I made these last night, and I realized I didn't have a picture on here of them. So here is what he finished product looks like. I topped mine with spinach and arugula, black olives, salsa, avocado, plain Greek yogurt and I had black beans topped with the same and watermelon. It was delicious! My picky hubby said today that he was worried we would eat them all for lunch, and there wouldn't be any left for him. Try them and let me know what you think.