Chicken Enchilada Casserole + That Game!

Did you SEE that game yesterday?

Oh wait. You don't know what I am talking about? The World Cup. I know, here in America it really isn't that big of a deal, but in our half-Brazilian / half-American household it is more than just a soccer tournament; it is pretty much what 95% of our conversation is centered around these days. And I love it!

I haven't always cared about it. In fact, I never had even heard of the World Cup until I was graduating college and a group of my friends didn't come to the graduation because there was a game on. Actually, they came. They just stayed in the back, all crowded around a pickup truck with a TV connected to it, cheering for whatever teams were playing at that moment. Technically they were there, but there weren't really there. I was fuming! These were some of my best friends, they showed up for my college graduation and didn't see me get my degree because of a soccer game?!

I totally get it now.

This household cheers for Brazil. All the way. I mean, my husband comes from a country where every time they play is equivalent to a national holiday. Schools are closed, businesses are shut down, and parties are going on everywhere. Imagine the 4th of July -- continuing on throughout a month. This is a big deal for him, and has become a big deal for me. But yesterday we cheered for the USA (Go, Team, go!).

DID YOU SEE THAT GAME?!

I think my heart sank at minute five, and then soared from about the middle of the game on... until it almost stopped beating during the last 30 seconds. If you don't know what I am talking about you really should check it out. Man oh man, it was intense.

Objectively, it was a great game. Subjectively, it almost made me cry. So this is what it feels like to really care about sports...

But at the end of the day -- win, lose, or draw -- life goes on. And I don't know about you, but I work up quite an appetite while watching these boys battle it out on the pitch.

To help combat that, I bring you a chicken enchilada casserole.

The beauty of this casserole is that you don't have to really roll the enchiladas. Just stuff them, fold them in half, and layer them in the casserole dish. Quite simple to make and really delicious to eat -- even my husband who dislikes most Mexican food (he doesn't understand why cheese and beans go together, nor does he like spicy things) enjoys this. I guess it helps that I don't put jalapenos in even though the original recipe calls for them.

Some tips: (1) buy cooked, shredded chicken from the deli section of the your local grocery store. It is easier than buying it and making it yourself, and costs about the same; (2) substitute Greek yogurt in place of sour cream -- it is tangy and has the same consistency, and is a little bit healthier; and (3) start cheering on your team in the World Cup! Like I said earlier, go Team, go!!!

CHICKEN ENCHILADA CASSEROLE

Recipe slightly adapted from Everyday Food, October 2011

SERVES 6  •  PREP TIME: 35 MINUTES  •  TOTAL TIME: 1 HOUR

ingredients:

• 2 pounds tomatillos (husks removed), washed and coarsely chopped
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 white onion, diced small
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• salt and pepper
• 15-18 corn tortillas
• 2 cups cooked and shredded chicken
• 3 tablespoons sour cream or Greek yogurt
• 1 cup cotija cheese, crumbled
• ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro

directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a blender, puree tomatillos until smooth. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Add onion and cook until softened, 8 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, 30 seconds. Add tomatillo puree and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until sauce is thickened slightly, 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Briefly run stack of tortillas under cold water, turning to lightly dampen. Wrap stack in a clean kitchen towel and microwave until pliable, 30 seconds. Fill each tortilla with about 3 tablespoons chicken and a sprinkling of cheese, fold in half, and arrange in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish, overlapping slightly. Top with tomatillo mixture, cover with foil, and bake until bubbling, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before serving.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together sour cream and 2 tablespoons water. To serve, drizzle casserole with sour cream mixture and sprinkle with cheese and cilantro.

COST: $13.09      COST PER SERVING (6): $2.18

Gluten Free    //    Mexican Food

Memory Lane + Fish Tacos

One of my favorite memories:

Going to Ensenada with a bunch of friends for my 30th birthday on a cruise.  Getting off the boat, bypassing all the touristy attractions, finding a local person and asking him what he would do if he had one day in his city.

Eat fish tacos, he said, at the fish market.

So that's what we did.  No other foreigners around, just us, in an upstairs room filled with glass Coca-Cola and Fanta bottles, a rickety fan swirling overhead.  The only music was the Mariachi band wandering through the street below and the sounds of families chattering away in Spanish over their lunches in the many open-air restaurants that lined the street.

And those fish tacos, at $2 a person? Delicious, absolutely delicious.

It was a perfect moment.

I can't recreate that moment.  From the food to the company, I could put them all together in the same place, but that moment will probably never happen just like that again.  There is the feeling, you know, that can only happen once.  But I can replicate a part of that memory... they may not be the exact same, but I do make some great fish tacos.

I am pretty sure that whenever I have fish tacos, whether at home or out and about, I will always think back to that day, surrounded by friends and family in a place where simplicity and laughter went hand in hand.

FISH TACOS

Adapted from Everyday Food, January/February 2005

SERVES 4  •  PREP TIME: 35 MINUTES  •  TOTAL TIME: 35 MINUTES

ingredients

• ¼ cup Greek yogurt
• 2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lime juice
• coarse salt and pepper
• 1 small red cabbage, thinly shredded
• 4 scallions, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 pound snapper, cut into about 12 strips
• 8 flour tortillas, soft-taco size**
• fresh cilantro leaves, to top

directions

1. In a large bowl, combine sour cream and lime juice; season with salt and pepper. Transfer half the mixture to another container; set aside for serving. Toss cabbage and half the scallions with remaining sour-cream mixture. Season again with salt and pepper.
2. In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil and remaining scallions half over medium-high heat; swirl to coat bottom of pan. Season fish on both sides with salt and pepper. In two batches (starting with larger pieces), cook fish until golden brown on all sides, 5 to 6 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, warm tortillas according to package instructions.
4. To make tacos, fill tortillas with slaw, fish, and fresh cilantro leaves. Drizzle with reserved sour-cream mixture. Serve immediately.

 ** Did you know Trader Joe's has these AMAZING, hand-made tortillas, totally fresh and delicious, for a great price?  They really have quite the tortilla selection, all made at local bakeries.  Go check them out!

COST: $14.24      COST PER SERVING (4): $3.56

My New Fave -- Sweet Potato Tacos

Move over tortellini with butternut squash and sage, there's a new favorite in town!

From sweet potato hater to lover like that *finger snap*.

You cannot thank me for this, though.  All the credit goes out to Jess at CookSmarts.  She is a brilliant one, I tell ya, and if you are looking at this thinking, "Man, if only I could cook," look no further because she is here to help.  With her videos, easy recipes, and all these handy kitchen tips, you can't help be leave her site a little bit more handy in the kitchen.  Where was she when I needed her two years ago?!

Oh well, she is here now and so are these tacos.  Which I have had six of in the past twenty-four hours.  Dinner last night, lunch today, and now dinner tonight.  I guess you really can't have too much of a good thing...

Click here for the recipe for Sweet Potato Tacos.  I did it word for word, minus the cayenne pepper, and choosing Greek yogurt for my dairy.  Leave the dairy off and you've got a great vegan plate. And now I am hoping that my husband will say, "Yes, we can have them again, for the third time this week..."

COST: $5.97    COST PER SERVING (4): $1.50

Burritos, Sunshine, and Victory!

If you haven't figured it out by now, let me give it to you straight: we love the beach.

It doesn't really matter if we are on a tropical beach in Brazil or a NorCal one with slightly lower temps.  Ethier way, that is where we are the happiest.  What it does dictate is the type of clothes you wear while you are in the water.

Or out of the water...


 (These girls are slightly overdressed compared to what we see on Brazilian beaches, huh?)

But if there is sunshine and sand along with the sound of crashing waves, we are there.

You know where else we might be?  Eating Mexican food. 

See that smile on his face?  A smile as he has a burrito in right hand and horchata in his left?!  A few years ago the corners of his mouth would have been pointed in the other direction, but today he holds that Mexican food in his hands and smiles about it.  In fact, he was the one who suggested Taqueria Vallarta II this time, although he says it was just because he knows I like it. 

Oh well, that really doesn't matter.  We were eating it and he was smiling.  You know what this means?  I do not need to live a Mexican-food-free marriage anymore. 

You know what that means?

Victory!