Posted By Christina M on May 20, 2009

I’m in cooking mode lately. Chicken is under 70 cents a pound, and I’m finding use for ten pound bags!

Tonight’s menu: chicken enchilada casserole, Spanish rice, and homemade salsa.  The enchilada casserole is always a family favorite, and I made the salsa a couple of days ago and was quite pleased with how it came out. I haven’t tried the Spanish rice before,  but I followed the directions of a dear lady who knows her way around the kitchen… the same lady who told me the basics of easy salsa making. So… if you want the “recipes” here goes.

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

• chicken
• corn tortillas
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1 container sour cream
• 1 can nacho cheese sauce or green chili enchilada sauce
• cheese
• 1 onion

Boil the chicken. (Amount is flexible.) Save the broth for tomorrow’s chicken and dumplings.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix sour cream, cream of chicken soup, sauce, cheese, and diced onion in a bowl. (What size containers you use is really a matter of taste. We used reduced fat sour cream.)

Layer sauce mixture, torn pieces of tortilla, and chicken. Top and bottom layers should be sauce mixture. Cook until cheese is melted and casserole is hot, anywhere from 10-45 minutes.

As you see, the recipe is very forgiving.

Spanish Rice

The key, I’m told, is to brown the rice in oil before adding water and tomato sauce. The lady who gave the directions didn’t give amounts, so I used 3 cups rice, 6 cups water, and one small can of tomato paste. I added a diced onion and some onion salt and cumin. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

Salsa

This is the easy way. My favorite is a fresh pico de gallo, but I rarely have time to make that. This is a delicious second choice, and it’s so easy and affordable that I can keep it in the house constantly.

• 1 large can diced tomatoes
• 1 small can whole jalapeno without liquid, stems removed. If you prefer a milder salsa, you can remove the seeds.
• 1 onion, in quarters
• garlic (optional)
• cilantro (optional but strongly recommended)
• salt to taste
• 1-2 Tbsp lemon juice

Put all ingredients in blender, and pulse until onion is thoroughly mixed in.

The cost of all this? Including leftovers, about $7 to feed our big clan. Maybe $8 if I get all responsible and serve veggies.

Update: The casserole and salsa are family favorites, but the rice needs some work. It definitely requires more water than I used initially; I think next time I will find a different recipe.

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