THE BEST GREEN ENCHILADAS

Yummy Green Enchiladas are so good.  If you are craving some Mexican and just do not want to go out why not make some at home.  

This recipe came about due to an overabundance of green tomatoes one year.  Well, more like 5 years ago.  You the story goes like this, it was October the leaves were turning all the pretty colors of fall.  The garden was winding down with only some peppers and tomatoes left.  That summer was tomato and pepper heaven in my garden.  I was able to can all kinds of goodies with tomatoes and peppers.  Since the forecast was calling for our first frost in the next few days we knew we had to get down in the garden and pick everything that was left.  Peppers I know what to do with but heck what do you do with over 50 pounds of green tomatoes.  Yes, you read that correctly we had over 50 pounds of green tomatoes.  Me being me and Scott being Scott, we had to figure out what in this world were we going to do with all those green tomatoes.  Well, we decided on making a green enchilada sauce.  OK, so .... we made for the first time ever some green enchilada sauce.  That is all it took.  Now, this is always a staple for us to have on hand on our canning shelves.  Which by the way if you come to visit those jars are on the left-hand side, bottom shelf near the door going into the basement garage.  Ok so now you know the story but why enchiladas?  Well, heck we to make something with all that green sauce.  I hope to be able to post the recipe for the green enchilada sauce soon.  

Enchiladas are one of those dishes that you can stuff the shell with almost anything.  Again as all my recipes are, cook per your taste.  

I always saute onions and peppers when I make enchiladas or quesadillas. 

I almost always shred my own cheese.  Mainly because it is cheaper but primarily because you do not have as many preservatives this way.  Again you can use any cheese you wish.  My favorites are pepper jack, sharp cheddar or Monterey Jack.   

As far as the meat goes you can use chicken or beef.  Not to freak you out I use rabbit sometimes.  We raise our own rabbits for meat.  Rabbit meat is all white meat and very little fat.  If you do not want to use meat you can just add peppers, onions, and cheese, which happens to be my favorite way to eat them.  Or you can add beans.

Just add what you want to your shell and wrap them up.

I make my own green enchilada sauce but you can pick up a jar at the store.  Coming soon I will post our recipe for this wonderful sauce.

I like having a layer of the sauce on the bottom of my casserole dish.

Next, all you do is add your enchilada to the casserole dish and pour more sauce on top.

This is what it looks like before it goes into the oven.  Put some foil on the top and put it in a preheated oven.  Allow cooking for 20 minutes.  Take off the foil and cook another 10 to 15 minutes.  

I add more cheese to the top when I take them out of the oven.  Your dish is hot so the cheese will melt.  

GREEN ENCHILADAS

Ingredients

• 1 pound of cooked chicken, beef, or rabbit
• 2 cups of shredded cheese of your choice
• 1 bell pepper
• 1 large onion
• 1 pack of tortilla shells
• 1 jar of green enchilada sauce

Directions

• Saute onions and pepper(s) together.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Pour in a small amount of green enchilada sauce to form a thin layer on the bottom of a casserole dish.
• Put together your enchiladas.  Take a tortilla shell, add meat, peppers and onions, and cheese in the middle.  Fold the shell, by taking each side to the middle of the topping. 
• Put enchiladas into the casserole dish.  Add the rest of the enchilada sauce to the top. 
• Cover with foil and cook for 20 to 30 minutes.  You are really just heating and melting your ingredients because everything is cooked.
• Take off foil and allow to cook an additional 10 to 15 minutes.  You want to crust the top.  
• Take out of the oven and put the rest of your shredded cheese on top.  Allow cooling before serving.

Remember to cook per your taste.  I will add jalapenos sometimes or garnish with them.  We like stuff hot so you can even add hot sauce if you wish.  If you do not like the green sauce you can substitute out for red enchilada sauce.  

I wish I had a picture of the finished dish but alas they get gone so quickly around my house.  Of course, this recipe makes a lot so I invite friends over to enjoy when I cook these.  

ENJOY!!!