Healthified Chicken Enchiladas & Spanish Rice

I’ve been in a bit of a cooking rut lately.  I’ve cooked up a storm and destroyed my kitchen on a near-daily basis, but the results have been pretty dismal.  I made NC pulled pork sandwiches.  Blegh.  I made turkey meatballs.  Blah.  I made sausage and potato gratin.  Meh.

But then, I made THIS:

Would you believe me if I told you this saucy plate of Mexican goodness clocks in at under 350 calories? 

Shut the front door.

Other than the fifty cookie recipes I’ve made in the last two weeks, I haven’t been crazy excited about a recipe in while.  I am PUMPED about these healthified enchiladas though.  So pumped in fact, that I packed them in my lunch every day this week!  I’m pretty sure they were causing some lunchbox envy in the break room 🙂

Mexican food is one of my top-craved food genres, and these enchiladas are proof that Mexican food doesn’t have to be covered in 3 inches of cheese.  They babies are cheese free and still incredibly flavorful.

It starts with the filling:

We all know chicken breast can be pretty blasé, but here it gets a swift kick of flavor as it simmers away with Mexican inspired seasonings, green chiles, green onions, and white onion.  The flavors infuse the chicken which becomes soft and succulent as it sautés.  The chicken filling is then rolled inside low carb tortillas, and surrounded with a creamy Greek yogurt sauce:

Enchilada sauce and more green onions sealed the deal before the whole shebang headed to the oven.

While the enchiladas baked I also threw together some healthified Spanish rice.

Healthy Spanish rice (serves 4):  2 servings Uncle Ben’s Spanish natural whole grain rice cooked according to package instructions with 1/2 a can of rotel tomatoes, 1/4 cup sauted white onion, 1/2 tsp cumin, and 1/2 tsp chili powder.

The rice was OK, but it was missing something.  I’m pretty sure that “something” was a big ole glob of butter.  While it wasn’t awesome all by its lonesome, in this dish the rice gets smothered with all the yummy enchilada sauces so you won’t miss the butter.  Promise.

Your lunchboxes can thank me later.

Healthified Chicken Enchiladas (makes 6):

• 1 lb shredded skinless, boneless chicken
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can Campbell’s Fat-Free Cream of Chicken soup
• 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 1/4 tsp chili powder
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chilies, drained
• 1 packet taco seasoning
• 1 bunch green onions, chopped, divided in half
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 tsp lime juice
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 6 Tumaro’s Low Carb Tortillas (60 calories each)
• 1 (10 ounce) can enchilada sauce

Step one:  CHICKEN!  Bring a large pot of water to a boil, plop in 1 pound of halved chicken breasts, and simmer for 12 minutes.  Then roughly shred the chicken with two forks.

Step two:  CREAMY GOODNESS!  Combine the cream of chicken soup, plain Greek yogurt, and chili powder in a small pan and bring to a light simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally.

Step three:  DELICIOUS ENCHILADA FILLING!  Sauté chopped white onion in a big skillet coated with cooking spray until soft, then add:  Shredded chicken, drained chopped green chilies, packet of taco seasoning, 1/2 bunch chopped green onions, water, lime juice, onion powder, garlic powder, and cumin.  Simmer over medium heat for 20 minutes, then add 1 cup of sauce from step two.

Step four:  ROLL and BAKE!  Spray a 9×13 pan with some cooking spray, spread the remaining creamy goodness on the bottom, then load up each low carb tortillas with 1/2 of a cup of the chicken filling.  Roll the tortillas tight and place them seam side down in the pan.  Top with enchilada sauce and 1/2 bunch chopped green onions.  Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

Stats on 1 healthified chicken enchilada:  244 calories, 28g carbs, 3g fat, 26g protein, 8g fiber

Stats on the lunch combo (1 enchilada plus 1/4 of Spanish rice):  341 calories, 48g carbs, 4g fat, 28g protein, 9g fiber