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Enchilada Casserole with Kelly & her kids

Growing up, Kelly learned many recipes from her older sister, including this one. With working parents, the two sisters made a lot of food for their younger siblings. When Kelly got married and had children, she continued to cook for her young family and then trained professionally as a chef. She says that her training, and years of work in the food industry, helped her surpass her sister as a cook. Though she no longer works in restaurants, she still uses many skills she gathered over the years in her kitchen.

Kelly infuses her cooking with the wisdom and lessons of her Indigenous ancestors. She recalls her grandmother telling her, “anything I put into my food is what everybody will always eat… Your dough will not come out right if you are not in a good mood. If you’re doing it when you’re angry, it will come out hard like a rock.” Kelly takes these words to heart and tries to cook with care and mindfulness, whether she is selling fry bread at a pow-wow on the reservation where much of her extended family lives, or making dinner for her children. Feeding others is a passion--she always makes sure to cook a large amount so that if a friend, sibling, or anyone else stops by hungry, they can make themself a plate.

As a working single mom, Kelly values recipes that nourish her children, are affordable, and are relatively “quick and easy.” This enchilada casserole is made in layers rather than by wrapping each tortilla, making it simpler to construct and easier to reheat than other enchilada recipes. Kelly uses peanut oil in this and all of her cooking because it drains off more easily, and “you don't get all that extra added oil that just seeps into things.” In the past she has at times relied more heavily on takeout to feed her kids on a busy schedule. But when she noticed how that was affecting her family’s health, she returned to making most of her food from scratch. She teaches her children how to cook, assigning them each specific roles and dishes they take charge of, but she is not in a rush for them to take over in the kitchen: “My kids deserve just to be kids.”




Enchilada Casserole Recipe

Servings: ~15
Time: 90-120 minutes


Ingredients:

  • 8 chicken thighs
  • 4 tbsp chicken bouillon, divided
  • 2 tbsp garlic powder
  • 2 tbsp onion powder
  • 3-4 tbsp herbs de provence
  • 2 tubs of Bueno Brand oven roasted hatch chiles (not Pueblo!)
  • 2 26 oz cans of condensed cream of chicken soup
  • 3 cups of long grain white rice
  • 2 cans of Rotel chile and tomato
  • 16-24 8” corn tortillas
  • 2 large bags of shredded Mexican cheese mix


Instructions:

  • First cook the chicken: Rinse the thighs.
    • Fill a 2 gallon pot with water and add 2 tbsp of bouillon and spices (garlic powder, onion powder, herbs de provence)
    • Bring it to a boil, then add the chicken.
    • Cook until chicken is cooked through, and easily falls off the bone.
    • Remove the chicken from the water, reserving the broth.
    • Let chicken cool slightly until it can be touched. Use your fingers, gloved, to shred the chicken.
  • At the same time, make the green chile:
    • Pour both tubs o.f frozen chiles into a pan and heat to defrost
    • Pour both cans of soup into a pot large enough to hold the soup and the chiles, and simmer.
    • Once the frozen chiles have thawed, stir them into the soup and mix to combine.
    • Simmer while the chicken cooks.
    • When chicken is finished, add about ½ cup to 1 cup of the chicken broth to thin the sauce to your preference.
  • Once the chicken is finished prepare the rice:
    • Heat a few tablespoons of peanut oil in a pot.
    • Add the rice and toast slightly until brown.
    • Pour in both cans of Rotel and stir to combine.
    • Add 6 cups of the remaining broth from cooking the chicken. If total broth is less than 6 cups, supplement with water.
    • Stir in the other 2 tbsp of bouillon.
    • Cover and cook until rice has absorbed all liquid.
  • Once the chicken and green chile are both ready, it’s time to assemble the enchiladas.
    • Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
    • Spread a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of a large casserole dish (you may need two).
    • Lay about 8 tortillas on top of the sauce, or enough to cover the sauce with minimal overlap.
    • Layer shredded chicken on top of the tortillas, making sure to create a thick layer that covers all of the tortillas. If this is the only layer of chicken, that is okay. Otherwise try to use half of the chicken, keeping half for a second layer.
    • Spoon sauce over the chicken to cover.
    • Layer cheese on top of the sauce to cover.
    • Repeat tortilla, sauce, and cheese layers, including a second chicken layer (in the same order) if possible.
  • Bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and casserole is heated through.
  • Serve with sour cream, guacamole, and the rest of the cheese.