I know we’re all running up to Thanksgiving, so most of us are thinking about turkey, potatoes, and cranberries but last night we kicked off the week with the Greenbean’s favorite, taco night. My oldest sprout was home from college and she is sick of bland cafeteria food so she wanted some tex-mex.
In addition to yummy guacamole and homemade tacos I made one of my favorite dishes. I call it lazy enchiladas. Other people might call it that too, but I don’t really know. However it is not really an enchilada at all but it is the easiest and tastiest tex-mex that a person can make. Active prep time is about 10 minutes and the total cook time is only 50 minutes. Maybe tonight you’ll want to make it before you have to get all serious about Thanksgiving food.
Ingredients: 1 package of 8 frozen burritos (beef and bean is what I get, but the cheese ones are good too), 3 cans no beans Wolf Brand Chili (yes, it does matter), 1 can Rotel tomatoes, 1 large chopped onion, 2 cups grated cheddar cheese.
pic from texmex.net
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a saucepan, combine the chili and Rotel and heat. Place the frozen burritos in a baking dish (I use a stoneware dish). Pour the chili mixture over the top of the burritos. Layer the onions on top of the chili and put in the oven for 40 minutes. After 40 minutes, remove and cover the top with the cheese and put back in the oven. After five minutes, or until the cheese is melted, remove from oven and let set for 10 minutes. Serve with salsa, guacamole, sour cream and hot tortillas. It can be a side dish like it was for us last night or you can serve it stand alone with a tall glass of ice tea.
The Beaning of Life–Some people assume that beans have to be in chili. Of course, these people are wrong, but if these misguided souls want beans then I suggest using 1 can of Ranch Style beans as a substitution for one of the cans of chili. Never, ever buy chili with beans in it. It’s just plain wrong.
Spice Me–If you like more spice, then put some chili powder, cayenne powder, cumin, and fresh ground pepper in the chili mixture when you heat it. You could also chop up some fresh peppers and add to the mix or even put in some red hot sauce. Be warned, though, this heat can sneak up on you and steamroll quickly.
6 responses to “LAZY ENCHILADAS”
I must admit that this person who does not eat Mexican food at taco bells, del taco or El Torito, this person who never found a decent Mexican restraurant in Washington, doubted your blog this time. I don’t eat canned foods or frozen Mexican foods. But you know I will try your recipe with a little modification. Sounds good. thanks.
i agree about those yucky fast food places and about the low quality of mexican food in western washington. you might not like this dish, but i think you will. it is not authentic, but it is dressed up just enough to be tasty without a whole lot of work.
In upstate NY there is little in the way of acceptable TexMex food. There are two places within 50 miles I know of that are pretty good, but I still remember some places in LA very fondly. Come to think of it, that’s all I remember fondly about LA. Anyway it is cook your own or do without Mexican food up here. My wife makes a great tamale pie, and great chili (sorry, we use beans – this is not beef country either), great enchiladas, tacos and burritos. She is from Massachusetts but picked up the food of the southwest very quickly.
texmex is really easy to make. when i lived on the west coast there was great calimex but it was different–more citrusy and fishy, less peppers and tomatoes. tamales are good, but i can’t make those. i just buy them by the dozen at the local stand!
I wish we had a local stand to buy them at. There was a place in Glendale, CA, called Tamiy’s – maybe misspelled – that served only Tamales and Hamburgers, but they were the best tamales in creation. I never got around to the hamburgers. I think they were only open at night, catering to college students like me. Probably closed down long ago.
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