{Recipe} Stacked Chicken Enchiladas

I love enchiladas...if you don't I don't know if we can be friends & I'm not kidding.  My absolute favorite enchilada dish is Enchilada Lasagna. It is SUPER rich & AMAZINGLY indulgent but because of that, I try to save the recipe for special occasions. When I came across this recipe from a blog I love, Gimme Some Oven, it screamed MAKE ME! What's so great about these enchiladas is you get all the tasty flavors of an enchilada but is filled with more veggies that you wouldn't typically find in an enchilada.  This recipe was awesome & I didn't feel like I needed to be rolled out of the room when dinner was over.  The other great thing is the ability to make this a vegetarian dinner by removing the chicken. Still plenty of veggies to make this filling!  The only thing I would change is not sprinkling avocado over the entire dish when it was done. If you aren't serving this for a crowd, keep in mind you will have to reheat the next night.  Baked 2nd day avocado isn't good. Next time, I will top my enchiladas only when plated. Hmm next time..that next time might be real soon!

Serves: 8

Cook time acc to me: 1 Hour

How difficult was this for me? Not bad at all!

*Note, I did modify the amount of ingredients compared to the original recipe. I found I had leftover veggies because I was only able to do 2 complete layers instead of 3)

3 cups red enchilada sauce

10 corn tortillas

1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed & drained

1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained

4 scallions, thinly sliced (green part only)

1 lb shredded cooked chicken (I find boiling chicken the easiest/quickest way)

2.5 cups shredded low-fat Mexican cheese blend

1 avocado, peeled, pitted & diced

1/2 cup loosely-packed chopped fresh cilantro

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Spray 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray

Pour 3/4 cup enchilada sauce in baking dish & spread until the bottom is evenly coated.  

Top with a layer of tortillas. You can get creative in your placement. I cut some in half so the entire bottom was covered.

Sprinkle evenly: 1 cup black beans, 1 cup corn, 1/4 of the green onion & 1 1/2 cups shredded chicken (I forgot to photograph the chicken)

Cover the layer with about 3/4 cup shredded cheese

 Repeat with a 2nd layer of tortillas, THEN sauce, beans, corn, green onions, chicken & cheese

By this point, I ran out of chicken/beans/corn/space...if you have leftover ingredients by all means make another layer.  If not, after the cheese layer, add another layer of tortillas.  

Then cover with all remaining sauce

Cover with aluminum foil, then bake for 20 mins. You should have some cheese leftover.

Remove pan, remove foil & cover with remaining cheese.  

Bake for an additional 10-12 mins until cheese is golden brown.

Top with avocado & cilantro.  Slice & serve!