Thai Chicken Enchiladas

I was in the mood for something homey and satisfying for dinner last week. I know I'm crazy for turning on the oven this time of year but the weather was on the cooler side for July and I decided to make these awesome Thai Chicken Enchiladas. Plus, I had leftover Crockpot chicken, a small head of cabbage and the rest of my baby carrots from the garden to incorporate into a meal, so it was practically shouting, "make me for dinner!" I've adapted the recipe from howsweeteats.com just slightly to suit my need for spicy and sweet. (If you don't like spicy foods follow the link to the original recipe for a less spicy version, it's delicious!) I spiced up the chicken and veggie filling to help complement the lightly sweet coconut chili sauce. I've made these many times and I still shake my head in disbelief at how amazingly good these enchiladas are. I had three enchiladas in one sitting. No veggies. No Salad. Just these wonderfully sweet and spicy chicken enchiladas.

There are those days when you happily stumble upon a completely delicious recipe. One that, at first glance you might think may not be that good or has ingredients you're not too sure about. But, you plow ahead and make it and then you're completely floored by it's incredible flavor. This is that dish! Give it a try and let me know how you like it. 

Enjoy!
Lori

Thai Chicken Enchiladas (recipe adapted from howsweeteats.com)
Serves 2-4

8 small flour tortillas
2 chicken breasts, chopped or shredded (~3 cups)
1 T olive oil
2 cups cabbage, shredded
1 cup carrots, thinly sliced or shredded
1 bunch green onions, green and white parts chopped (~1 cup)
1 red or orange bell pepper, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste
2 T garlic chili sauce (or more if you want it really spicy)
1/3 cup sweet chili sauce
1 cup cilantro, chopped
1/2 cup peanuts, chopped

Sauce
2 cans lite coconut milk
1/2 cup sweet chili sauce

Chicken Marinade
1/2 cup yogurt                            1/2 t salt
4 cloves garlic, minced                 juice of one lemon
2 T olive oil                                1 t. hot curry powder(I used Spice Hunter)

1. Marinate chicken overnight or for a few hours. Grill and chop chicken. If you don't have the time to marinate, just use any leftover chicken and shred or chop into small pieces. I've made this with both the marinated chicken and also with some leftover Crockpot chicken. The Crockpot chicken shreds more easily. Set aside cooked chicken and preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Prepare all vegetables. Place cabbage, carrots, bell peppers, onions and garlic in oil in a large skillet and cook on medium heat until vegetables are soft. ~10 minutes. 

3. Add Chicken, chili garlic sauce, sweet chili sauce, cilantro and peanuts. Stir to incorporate with vegetables and heat until hot. About 3 minutes. Turn off heat and set aside.

4. In a large bowl add two cans of coconut milk and the sweet chili sauce. Whisk to combine. 

5. Add about a cup of the coconut sweet chili sauce mixture to the bottom of a large baking dish. Enough to fully coat the bottom of the pan with a thin layer. Fill flour tortillas with the chicken and vegetable mixture and roll enchilada. Place seam-side down in baking dish. 

6. Once all the enchiladas are rolled, pour the coconut chili sauce over each enchilada to coat. Make sure you don't fully submerge the enchiladas in sauce, the sauce should only come to about half way up the enchiladas in the pan.

7. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes. About half way through cooking time, use a spoon to ladle some of the hot coconut chili sauce over the tops of the enchiladas. Basting the tops with the sauce helps to crisp up and brown the tortillas. 

8. Remove from oven, let sit for about 5 minutes, top with additional cilantro and peanuts and serve.