Chicken Enchilada Casserole- A Better Version of an Old Favorite

We live in Texas where Tex-Mex reigns, but so often it's just cheese, fried tortillas, and refried beans stuffed with extra fat.  I've made a lot of enchilada casseroles in my day, but this one is probably the healthiest, and one of the tastiest.  By using tangy tomatillos and green chiles you get a sauce full of flavor with little fat.  It also use very few processed ingredients.  I did use store bought tortillas, but you could easily use home made ones if you want.  I think there are two reasons I really like this recipe: the tomatillos and an excuse to use my favorite kitchen appliance: the emulsion blender!

First, let me introduce you to the tomatillo if you haven't already met :

 This staple of Mexican cooking looks a lot like a green tomato with a husk on the outside, but on the inside it has a mild, tangy, white flesh with tiny seeds and much less moisture than a tomato.  Tomatillos can give a dish a great fresh flavor and are the base for the sauce in this recipe.

Now, for the immersion blender-you don't have to have one to make the sauce, you can cool it and blend it in a traditional blender, but with this handy tool your sauce can go from this:

To This in the same pan.  I'm a big fan of minimizing clean-up so this is great.  You can get a decent one for around $40, and I use mine at least once a week to emulsify salad dressings, blend soups, make sauces such the one in this recipe, and much more! 

CHICKEN ENCHILADA CASSEROLE

 2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 medium onion diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp. ground cumin

1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper

1 tsp. coarse salt

4 oz can green chiles, drained and diced

6 cups tomatillos diced

9 corn tortillas

3 cups  shredded chicken breast (for this dish I poached 2 large breasts then shredded)

3 oz. queso blanco, crumbled (this Mexican cheese that can be found in the specialty area of the grocery store or a local Mexican market)

1/4 cup fresh cilantro,chopped

Heat olive oil in medium sauce pan over medium heat.  Add onion and garlic and cook until softened (about 5 minutes).

Add cumin, pepper, and salt and stir about 30 seconds.

Add green chiles and tomatillos.  Cover pan and cook over medium heat about 10 minutes until tomatillos softened.

Remove from heat and blend with immersion blender or cool and blend in traditional blender.

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Spray bottom of  8x11 baking dish with cooking spray or olive oil.

Layer bottom of pan with 3 tortillas.  (I cut tortillas in half  or quartersto allow them to cover most of the base of the pan without leaving large gaps.  

Layer 1/2 of chicken over tortillas and cover with tomatillo sauce.

Repeat layers of tortilla, chicken, sauce, tortilla, sauce.

Sprinkle crumbled queso blanco over casserole.

Cover with foil and bake for 20-25 minutes.

Remove foil, cook for 5 additional minutes.
Let sit 5 minutes, sprinkle with cilantro, and serve.