Enchiladas de Pollo con Salsa Verde (AKA Green Chicken Enchiladas for people like me who hate ordering food in different languages.)

My first recipe post! I decided to start the new year off right, so I made some green chicken enchiladas that I can eat on all week. I used a recipe from Cooking Light but modified it to make it easier and even lighter! Their recipe was titled that fancy name in Spanish, but I always feel so stupid ordering things in restaurants when they're in different languages, so I'm just going to call this green chicken enchiladas and avoid humiliation.

This took me about 30 minutes of prep time, but I think with a little practice I can get it down to 20. Cooking time was 3-4 hours for the chicken in the crockpot and then just 25 minutes in the oven. I'm hoping these freeze well. If so, I will plan to make a double batch next time.

Yield: 4 servings (2 enchiladas each)

Ingredients:

8  (6-inch) corn tortillas

Sour cream, if desired

Filling:

3  cups  water

1/4  tsp salt

8  black peppercorns (or 1/4 tsp regular black pepper)

1  yellow onion, quartered (at least big enough to make up 1/2 cup when chopped)

1  bay leaf

1  pound  skinless chicken breast

1 1/2 cup of 2% Mexican blend cheese 

Sauce:

2/3  cup  2% milk

1/4  cup  fresh cilantro

1/4  cup  egg substitute (like Egg Beaters)

1/8  tsp  salt

1  (11-ounce) can tomatillos, drained (I found these in the Mexican section of the grocery store)

1  (4.5-ounce) can chopped green chiles, undrained

Preparation

1. To prepare filling, place all of the filling ingredients listed above except the cheese in a slow cooker and set on high for 3 hours or low for 6 hours. Remove chicken from cooking liquid and shred with 2 forks. Remove onion from cooking liquid and dice to make 1/2 cup. Discard liquid and any remaining onion (or save it for a soup base).
2. Preheat oven to 375°.
3. Combine chicken, 1 cup of cheese, and 1/2 cup onion in a bowl; set aside.
4. To prepare sauce, place all sauce ingredients listed above in a food processor; process until smooth. If you just have a tiny food processor like me, the only things that really need to go in are the tomatillos, the chiles, and the cilantro. You can stir in the rest of the ingredients out of the food processor.
5. To prepare tortillas, fill a medium skillet with 1 inch of water; bring to a simmer. Dip 1 tortilla in water using tongs. Spoon 1/2 cup filling in center of tortilla; roll tightly, and place in a 12x8-inch baking dish. Repeat procedure with remaining tortillas and filling. 
6. Pour sauce over enchiladas. Bake at 375° for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup cheese. Bake an additional 5 minutes or until cheese melts. Top with sour cream if desired. Enjoy!!

For the record, it is delicious. I made some quick Rice A Roni (the whole grain spanish flavor) and divided it into four portions. These will make the perfect lunches to bring to work this week -- don't they look better than a frozen dinner??