Guest Star: Chicken Enchiladas

This recipe comes from Eric, who says: "This is one of a few recipes that I know from heart. It’s a recipe that my mom got from a family friend, but it’s been tweaked over the years. One of the great things about it, is it’s easy to adjust for anybody’s personal taste – just add or eliminate items in the filling (e.g., green onions or olives) as you see fit – or even if you are missing an ingredient in your pantry. It works very well with fat free/ reduced fat ingredients. The enchiladas aren’t very spicy, so you can always add heat to the enchilada sauce or use hotter peppers. In the end, though, this dish is creamy, cheesey, and heats up nicely the next day." Sounds fantastic to me!


Chicken Enchiladas
Serves: 4-6
Time: 1 hour (30 prep, 30 in oven)

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cubed, cooked, and cooled
16 oz. sour cream
2 cans condensed Cream of Chicken Soup (Cream of Celery or Mushroom can work, too)
1 bunch of green onions
1 small can (4 oz) diced green chiles
10 tortillas (12-inch)
Enchilada sauce, red (15-20 oz)
½ - ¾ lbs of cheese (cheddar and jack mix)
sliced black olives and jalapeños (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°. Pour a little enchilada sauce into the bottom of a rectangular casserole dish to coat all sides.

Combine chicken (cooked ahead of time, I usually boil it), sour cream, soup, green onions, and chiles in a medium bowl and mix well. Set 1 cup of the mixture aside.

To assemble an enchilada: pour a small amount of enchilada sauce onto a plate and coat both sides of a tortilla with the sauce. Spoon the filling mixture onto the tortilla (usually 2-3 healthy spoonfuls are enough). Roll the tortilla and place in the casserole dish, seam down. Continue to assemble the remaining enchiladas to fill up the casserole dish.

Combine any remaining enchilada sauce with the cup of filling set aside (and any filling that might be left over). Spread the mixture over the enchiladas in the casserole dish. Cover the enchiladas with cheese, and decorate with sliced olives and jalapeños if desired.


Bake uncovered for 20-30 minutes until the cheese is melted, bubbly, and delicious.

Pizza Rustica

What could be better than a simple, delicious pizza? The tiny, fresh tomatoes in this recipe are key. They stand in for sauce and are a little sweet, balancing nicely with other simple ingredients, like fresh herbs.


Pizza Rustica
Servings: 4-6
Time: 35 minutes (20 prep, 15 in the oven)

13 oz pizza dough (buy it to save time; fits standard cookie sheet)
8 oz fresh mozzarella sliced into ovals
1 pint of grape or small cherry tomatoes
1 table spoon olive oil
1 teaspoon Dried rosemary
1-2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/8 of a teaspoon of salt
Red Pepper flakes
Fresh spinach (or basil if you want more flavor)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place tomatoes and olive oil into frying pan and cook over medium low heat, stirring every once in a while.

Meanwhile, Roll out dough onto lightly greased or parchment covered cookie sheet.

Check on tomatoes. They should cook for about 5 minutes. When they start to become soft, add the garlic, herbs, salt, and a shake of red pepper flakes. Continue stirring and cooking until you can easily pop or crush tomatoes with the back of a wooden spoon or spatula. Remove from heat at that point, and crush the remaining tomatoes.

Place mozzarella slices directly onto the dough, spacing them equally apart so that when they melt, the cheese will cover the entire pie. Using a spoon, drop small amounts of tomato mixture in different places directly on top of the cheese and dough.

Place fresh spinach or basil leaves in between the tomato splotches.

Place pizza in oven and cook until the cheese is melted and turning golden brown in some spots and the crust is golden.